Tropes
by Prettyhex04
Summary: One-shot stories of Olicity and their adventures together
1. Hidden

Well this was certainly _not _going well for Felicity tonight. Gasping down deep breaths to try and aid the raging pain that was coursing over her left side. She had to try and hide her injury to the rest of the group and _they couldn't find out_, because then they would only see her as some weak, pathetic I.T girl that always sat behind the computers with that as her only use. Making her way down the stairs of the Foundry, she found it was completely empty. YES, so now she was alone and she could tend to her wound. Fingers crossed it wasn't infected or anything.

They had been on an undercover mission, Oliver and Digg were outside waiting in case something went wrong, Sara and Roy were amongst the crowd while Felicity had the task of getting to the main office and collecting the necessary information needed to bring Lawler to justice. Everything had been going smoothly until there had been a guard waiting outside the room Felicity was currently occupying. Without alerting the rest of the team, Felicity was able to take him down thanks to some self-defence moves Digg had taught her. However, she hadn't seen the knife swung at her until the last moment but she managed to prevent the knife from hitting her square in the face but he still managed to get her side, causing quite a deep gash running down her left side Although she wasn't fazed by it at first, she had felt something sticky, looking down to see her blouse slowly turning crimson red. Swaying slightly Felicity was able to make it back to the Foundry. How she was able to pull off a strong enough voice with her fading strength to the rest of her team over the comms was beyond her.

"Dammit" Felicity cursed when she peeled the material of her blouse away from her side. She had dressed it with gauze after putting in a few stitches, which she hated every second of, but it continued to bleed out a little.

"Felicity? Are you down here?" Oliver's sudden voice broke her out of her train of thoughts. Hurriedly tugging the hem of her hoodie down, which she threw on in case something like this would happen, she greeted Oliver but what she failed to notice was how pale she was.

"Felicity are you okay?" he asked curiously taking a couple of steps towards her before stopping short just in front of her.

"Yeah course I am, why do you ask?" Felicity asked, trying to mask the pain in her voice.

"Because you look quite pale" Oliver answered hesitantly. She knew he was getting too close to figuring out the truth. Making up a quick and realistic lie, Felicity tried to divert the conversation to another topic preferably one that would able her to leave quickly because right now she could feel her strength fading.

"Actually I'm feeling a little under the weather, I think I might just head home" Felicity said, praying he brought her act. She forgot to register just how weak she would be though. Standing, she moved towards the stairs but wasn't able to take another step because the world suddenly began to spin, making it impossible for her to stand up so the next minute she was collapsing. Some part of her brain heard Oliver yelling her name as he lunged forward, catching her _just _before her head smacked against the floor. As soon as she was in his arms her eyes snapped shut.

Shifting her body into his lap, he was startled when he felt a familiar sticky substance on his left hand, pulling back his eyes widened at the sight of blood coating his hand. Shouting her name again, his heart seized when he saw her eyes had closed; Oliver moved her hoodie to the side revealing the shocking site of a deep gash that looked like a knife-inflicted injury. It also revealed a gauze tapped over the wound, gently removing it he saw the temporary stitches Felicity put in to stop the blood. Acting on instinct, he cradled her against his chest before easily rising to his feet and moving to the med-bay. Connecting her to a heart monitor, just to give a peace of mind, Oliver cleaned her wound before stitching it up redoing all of Felicity's work then replacing the gauze. Within mere seconds, he came up with the obvious conclusion that she couldn't stay at the Foundry because it wasn't the best place to rest and heal. It got cold at night and truthfully it didn't feel that safe. He didn't want to take her back to the mansion because she'd be faced with too many questions so that left taking her home. Carefully scooping her up into his arms, Oliver made his way to the staircase.

This was when it got interesting because the only mode of transport that he had was his bike, he should've brought his car. Cautiously settling himself on the bike with Felicity cradled tightly to his chest with her head nested on his shoulder, Oliver accelerated, being careful not to jolt her injured form. To his advantage there wasn't any traffic, streets barely empty. Rapidly making his way to her house, Oliver stole a glance down at his I.T girl lying cuddled up unconscious against him. At that sight before him several feelings seemed to rise to the surface. Why didn't she let someone know that she was hurt? It hurt him in every way possible that he didn't know the answer to that question. A possessive feeling swamped him and Oliver found it hard trumping it back down again. Finally getting to her house, Oliver used the key she had given him and Diggle, in case of emergencies, to unlock the door. Getting Felicity settled comfortably in her bed was his first priority, next he would worry about the questions that followed. Tenderly placing Felicity in her bed he covered her with the bed sheets, tucking the duvet up right against her chin then permitted his mind to be flooded the picturesque scene in front of him. She looked stunning. Whether he allowed himself to he knew that Felicity was his light, she was his reason that kept him fighting and not giving up. But observing her sleeping form made a bolt of protectiveness flare through him for her. She didn't even realise the effect she had on him however, he didn't let himself show it otherwise she would be harmed. Removing her glasses and placing them on the bedside table, Oliver couldn't control himself so making one last thorough check that everything was alright, her stitches, the bandage and the pillows cushioning her head and etc. He propped up the pillows and settled himself down beside Felicity. As if she sensed his presence she suddenly shifted, turning her head towards him. Why she hadn't come to him sooner he would never know but it wouldn't stop him from finding out though. Didn't she realise how special she was to him? If anything were to happen to her, he wouldn't know what to do. With all the crap going on in his life, he could always trust Felicity to brighten his day and give him a sense of freedom. Whenever he was with her, she was the key to escape his life and go somewhere that he didn't have to worry about Oliver Queen or the Arrow, he could be himself. Sometimes she didn't even realise she was doing it. Before he even registered the action, his left hand reached out to Felicity's waist and tugged her towards him like she was as light as a feather. So here they were with Oliver laid out of her bed with Felicity sprawled out across his chest and his left arm locking around her shoulders, securing her to him. Listening to her gentle intakes of breath and exhales he soon found his eyes beginning to feel like lead, becoming increasingly harder to keep open. With the feeling of Felicity in his arms he allowed the dark to claim him and floated off into his new dreams of a life he could have.

Her body ached badly, why did it feel like she'd just gone through an intense training session with Digg again? Eyes fluttering open, Felicity took in the sight she was met by like she was still in her dream. Oliver was in a deep and peaceful slumber. Then she realised how intimate their position was. At some point during the night he must've pulled her close because now she was cuddled against his chest with his left arm protectively fastened around her waist and looking down she saw that their legs were tangled together. Felicity could feel the heat rising to her cheeks and if he was able to see her now she would probably be looking redder than a tomato. Ignoring the pain flaring in her body, she pushed all inappropriate thoughts to the back of her mind; she focused on extracting herself from his sleeping form which, by the looks of how tightly he was clung onto her, would prove to be an extremely difficult job. Untangling their legs slowly and careful not to put too much pressure on any of his limbs in case his grip tightened because then escaping his grasp would be impossible, Felicity managed to retain possession of her own limbs working her way up to her upper body. When Oliver suddenly shifted, she froze her attempts at separating herself from him, his face now came to nuzzle her hair and she felt him move closer to her- great! After a good ten minutes, Felicity finally had separated herself from Oliver and while she stood at the foot of the bed she got a stunning view of him still sleeping. Making her way into the bathroom the first thing she did was inspect her injury. Pulling the gauze away slightly to see the gash, the stitches that were clasping her skin together were much neater than they had been. Dammit, Oliver must've seen it after she collapsed. Great and now she has a bow-wielding vigilante with a very bad temper problem, and was extremely possessive not to mention over-protective, keeping an eye on her. Brilliant just bloody brilliant. Having a quick shower, Felicity exited the bathroom and saw that Oliver hadn't moved a muscle while she was gone. In the space it took her to extract herself from him, take a shower _and _dry herself Oliver had barely even twitched. Should she wake him up? No, no, no bad idea. Having a sleeping vigilante in her bed that already knows about her pathetically-hidden injury is bad but having an awake vigilante knowing about her injury is worse. So no, under no circumstances was she to wake him up. Instead she settled for making herself comfortable on her couch and watching some episodes of her favourite TV series that she'd missed. About forty minutes into the third unwatched episode, noting that each one was around forty five minutes long, she heard shuffling coming from upstairs. _Great, well this is going to get interesting_ she thought when she heard him coming down the stairs.

Oliver had arisen later than he intended to because when he woken up he didn't feel the welcoming warmth of his blonde partner, instead he was met with nothing but cold air. Searching for her, he heard faint sounds of the TV coming from downstairs. Promptly taking the stairs two at a time, he made his way to what he thought was the living room.

"Why didn't you wake me?" Oliver asked, taking the cup of coffee she had already made and had left on the breakfast bar for him and taking residence beside her on the couch watching what seemed to be Teen Wolf, she had always loved Stiles, Scott and Derek.

"Because you looked too peaceful and besides I've rarely seen you sleeping so I decided not to wake you"

"And why didn't you let anyone know that you'd been hurt?" his tone carried the slight hint of anger, irritation and something else she couldn't place, probably the fact that she was hurt.

"Because it wasn't that bad, you lot get hurt all the time and patch it up like it's nothing and besides you think that was my first time that I'd gotten hurt?" she countered with another question, never once taking her attention off of the TV screen where a fight was happening between Stiles, Lydia, Kira, Scott and Oni.

"We're a team Felicity-" grabbing the remote and stopping the scene so he'd have her attention instead of it being on the screen "-and no matter what happens, we always tell each other"

"So what would you have done if I'd told you that I'd been hurt? One of you would drop everything and come and find me and treat me like some fine-wound china or something, which _always _annoys the hell out of me"

"Well sorry for trying to keep you safe"

"Nobody acts that way when any one gets hurt" she claimed crossing her arms, this really starting to get under his skin.

"Because you're not like us Felicity, you're different"

"Different how?" she was pushing his buttons in all the correct ways, pushing him over the edge.

"Because your innocent alright….you haven't seen the things the rest of us have" he snapped. "You're the light of the team Felicity and without you none of this would be the same, so if you ever get hurt we always make sure that your light's not going to be extinguished.

"Oliver…everyone has their dark secrets and sure some aren't so nice at all but it doesn't make it any different though"

"What do you mean?" he asked while Felicity crossed her arms, protecting herself and facing the frozen TV.

"Which one; the fact that your mother makes you think you're the reason your dad left you every waking second of your childhood or the fact that you still have memories of an experience that you've tried to bury for years on end only for it to haunt you at night noun and again?"

"Nobody should be blamed for that and sometimes you just have to push through it, but you know you _can _always talk to me though right?"

"Yeah I know…it's just hard because I mean I want to get it out but it always puts me back in that position again, seeing the things I did…feeling the way I did, that feeling where you _know _you're going to die and you can see it but you keep fighting for a chance to break through the surface" during her explanation, Felicity had shut her eyes tight and Oliver could see tears brimming in the corners, threatening to fall. Shifting her head to the side away from him and nudging her shoulder, he could see that she was on the verge of a breakdown. Wrapping his left arm around her shoulders and tugging her into his side, on his first tug she seemed hesitant but he was insistent and on the third tug she rested her head on his shoulder. Altering their positions slightly, Felicity's head came to rest in the crook where his neck met his shoulder, laying his chin on her head gently he offered whatever means of comfort he had to her in that moment.

"Maybe someday I can give you the comfort needed to make the experience lighter on you"

"I'd like that but for now….could I continue watching Teen Wolf?" she was rewarded by a deep laugh from Oliver, who did then finally give her the remote. Before she even got the chance, Oliver pulled her back into his chest and enveloped her in his arms. This is how they stayed even as the remaining members of Team Arrow began piling in and before long they were all asleep in her living room. Roy was on the double couch with Thea's head in his lap while his legs crossed at the ankles and rested on her coffee table, Sara took up the other seat also having Thea's feet in her lap. Digg and Lyla shared one of the armchairs while Oliver took up the remaining one with Felicity resting on his lap, cuddled up to his chest. Laurel came in a little later and found them all like this, taking a picture then another one of each person and remembering to hide them and use them as blackmail later also remembering to keep them away from the reach of a certain sleeping hacker secured to the sleeping vigilante, she joined Sara on the couch and Thea then used her as yet another pillow to rest her body on. They would always be a team and nothing in this world could ever separate them.


	2. Sleeping Beauty

**So here's chapter two of the series of stories of the Olicity adventures and yeah. Anyways sorry for not uploading but I just broke up from school and was focused on my goddamn homework and assessments, I really hate holiday-homework because it's a time where you're supposed to be enjoying yourself and instead your doing stupid school work instead. I promise to upload another chapter of A Change of View next week since it is Sunday today. Anyways enjoy the holidays for those of you off school for a couple weeks. As always please review :)**

About an hour ago they'd been on an undercover mission and almost killed by flying bullets and glass windows shattering all around them. They were tailing a local drug dealer by the name of 'Little Chuckles' so was in no way little and certainly not full of chuckles instead he was a tall, overweight dirty little bastard, who Felicity swore was also a paedophile.

"Felicity?" Digg's voice snapped her attention back to the present, where Digg was waving his hand in front of her face trying to gain her attention, "you alright?"

"Hmm…yeah, yeah…I'm fine, still just a little bit shaken up" Felicity admitted

"Maybe you should go home, your adrenaline's going to wearing off soon" Digg stated while moving to grab his jacket from where he'd placed it over the back of his chair.

"Yeah I will, just have to finish this then I'll go home…night Digg, see you tomorrow"

"Night Felicity" he threw over his shoulder while making his way out of the Foundry.

* * *

"Felicity?" Oliver's voice sounded through the lair, turning round in her chair to meet his eyes, Felicity met his curious gaze.

"Hey"

"I thought you'd be home by now"

"Nah I'm just staying until the download's done"

"Well I can stay and make sure everything's alright with the download if you want to go home to bed"

"No I'll be alright thanks though" all the time she was talking to him, a series of shakes began to rack her body.

"You alright?"

"Yeah I think the adrenaline's just wearing off" she replied while rubbing her hands over her arms.

"Here, put your hands up" Oliver said before slipping his hood over her.

"Thanks, but don't you need this?" Felicity asked

"I don't need it when I'm Oliver Queen, it'll keep you warm" he stated before striding over to the stairs before something else possessed him to do something that he won't regret later on. Smiling down at the green hoodie, she pulled the hood up so she was encased in his scent. By this point she'd forgotten about the shakes she'd had and now the matter that she was in the vigilante's hood. Even his clothing made her feel safe. Turning her concentration back to the computer screens, Felicity began typing away and tried to ignore the thoughts behind the action he'd just done.

* * *

An hour or so later, Oliver decided to return back to the Foundry. Although he didn't expect to see the scene laid out in front of him. Still sat in front of the computers was his I.T girl/partner _still _wrapped up in his hood and she was fast asleep. Her head was resting on the back of the computer chair, with the hood covering her head, while the rest of her body was curled up in a tight ball. Just from the sight of seeing Felicity wrapped up in _his_ hood caused a wave of possessiveness to course through his body. Not being able to hold back, Oliver walked over to her chair and gathered her sleeping form up into his arms, hugging her tightly against him and waltzed over to the couch and sat down with Felicity secured in his lap. During the entire time she only moved to snuggle further into him, which only made him tighten his grip ever so slightly. Tilting his head back onto the back of the couch, he finally let sleep claim his aching body and knowing that Felicity was firmly held in his arms he gladly gave up the fight for sleep because to be perfectly honest with himself, this was the best way to fall asleep.

This was how Digg and Sara found them hours later, still sleeping with Felicity in Oliver's arms and Oliver's body curled around her petite form. It was remarkable the fact that even in his sleep he still attached himself to her as an anchor to keep from spiralling out of control. Smiling at the couple, who hopefully would snap out of their daze and actually get together, Digg and Sara left the sleeping duo silently laughing because during the whole time, Felicity was still wrapped up in Oliver's hoodie and it was almost like a shield, protecting her.


	3. Dream or Reality

**Sorry about the long wait between updates. The chapters to several of my other stories will be up soon, promise. Thank you to the people reading, favouriting, following and reviewing my stories. **

**Anyways, this chapter I had a daydream about when listening to a song. Hope you enjoy it :)**

* * *

"Take your pick kid…it's either your ex-girlfriend, the sweet Laurel, or your partner in crime, the beautiful and innocent Felicity…who is it going to be?" Slade seemed to be rather enjoying the downfall of his ex-best friend. His voice broadcasted over the rooftop to where Oliver sagged on his knees, arrows scattered all over the place and bow laying a few metred away.

"Please don't do this Slade!" Oliver pleaded desperately, at this point he didn't care if he begged, and he couldn't let history repeat itself. Felicity saw his battle raging so decided for him.

"Oliver" her voice was angelic, the light amidst the roaring battle around them, she was his light, "Oliver it's okay"  
"No, no please Felicity, don't do this" tears flooded down his cheeks at the thought of losing her.

"Still defending him, still protecting him are we Miss Smoak?" Slade accused, his voice laced with spite.

"I will always stand with him" Felicity spat at him as she turned to look him dead in the eye. The ferocity in her voice made his breaths catch in Oliver's throat. He didn't deserve someone as pure as her.

"Why's that?" darkness loomed over him like a shadow, _ironic _she thought.

"Because he's a hero, Oliver's been through the same experience as you and has come out of it a much better and more worthier man than you'll _ever _be and besides, he's got something you'll _never _have" Felicity rose to her feet, standing in front of Oliver like a shield.

"Tell me, my dear, what's that?" he cocked his head, trying to intimidate her but failing in the process.

"Respect" Felicity stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. This altogether enraged Slade further. Upon distracting him, Felicity had managed to grab one of Oliver's scattered arrows, that he had shot at Slade, and untied her hands, giving her full access of her limbs again.

"Respect! Don't make me sick, the kid's nothing but a waste of space!"

"Think about it Slade! He's survived _everything _you've thrown at him and remained strong throughout it, yet you haven't!" all the while Oliver was looking at Felicity with such emotion that he had kept bottled up inside him for so long, meanwhile Laurel on the other hand looked at her like she had grown a second head. "Besides all of what you say is nothing but complete and utter _bullshit_! Oliver had people willing to follow him, to fight for him and beside him of their own free will! You don't!"

Doing nothing to calm him down, Oliver was truly astounded by the courage Felicity was showing towards the whole ordeal. The entire time, Laurel had shifted over to the side of the room, far away from Slade. However, the events of the next moment he couldn't have seen coming. Yelling out Slade sheathed his sword and lunged for Felicity but she dodged his attack, with a move Oliver had seen Digg teach her (he would be proud), and pierce his arrow through his chest and straight into his heart.

"I'll never stop defending or protecting him, no matter what anyone says to me" Oliver heard Felicity whisper to Slade before his dead body slumped to the floor. Nevertheless when she turned round to face him, he never expected to see her hand covering her abdomen, where he could see blood staining her hand red crimson red. Slade had run her through with his sword.

"No" Oliver screamed out, eyes going wide, as he lunged for her, tugging her into his lap "Felicity…"

"It's alright Oliver" she smiled up at him weakly, his heart seized.

"No, god please no…it's not alright this wasn't supposed to happen, you weren't supposed to get hurt" his left hand reached down to cover hers over her abdomen, applying pressure to the rapidly increasing wound. Glancing down at her deep blue eyes once full of so much light, now draining with every passing second.

"You can't save everyone you know…" she tried to joke but on his part, it wasn't even anywhere near being funny.

"I should've saved _you_" tears dropped off of his chin and onto her cheek. Reaching up, she began brushing away the tears. He leaned heavily into her touch, grounding him of her presence while she was still with him.

"I'm not sorry for what I did, Oliver…look at me" obeying her command, her eyes still held so much love for him…only for him "I…love…you…and I will never stop loving you" Felicity stuttered out, making him close his eyes and hold her more tightly to his chest.

"No, Felicity stay with me…I'm not losing you, I can't…without you I'm nothing…I love you"

"Promise me you'll never change, that you'll find another way" her breathing was becoming more and more laboured with every breath.

"I-I promise…but don't leave me, _please_" he pleaded her, glancing down again to find she was gone, her eyes locked shut. "Felicity…please…don't do this…Felicity open your eyes! Please Felicity, _wake up!_" he cried out helplessly as her blood spilled out past his hand, also staining his hand. He had failed the only person that mattered most in his life. The only goodness he had left was gone.

That's where the rest of his team found them. Laurel quietly crying in the corner and Oliver sitting there with Felicity's figure tightly cradled against his chest, his face buried in her neck. Each sob wracked both forms. Where there used to be warmth, Oliver was now met by coldness. Just then his empty world began shaking, causing him to hold onto the body of his lost love even tighter.

"Oliver!" his name seemed so foreign to his ears.

* * *

"He's been like this for a while, I can't snap him out of it...so that's why I called you" Thea claimed gesturing to her sleeping brother, who was becoming more and more restless by each passing second.

"Has he been having these often?" Felicity heard herself asking, for some reason her voice not sounding like her own in that moment.

"Yes, he's been having them occasionally for quite a while now...all ending up yelling out your name", Thea's words were like a knife, cutting into her. Focusing her attention on the clearly distressed man writhing in pain and panic.

Oliver was squirming in his bed sheets, a cold sweat covering his body, yelling out Felicity's name. It caused her heart to tighten to see him in so much pain. Attempting to wake him up from his nightmare, Felicity lightly shook his shoulders and called out his name. After a while he began to quieten, opening his eyes. She bit back a gasp at the fear and the brokenness she found there.

"Oliver you're okay" she soothed when he was fully awake, gently laying her hand on his cheek.

"Felicity?" the level of desperation behind his voice hurt her.

"Yeah, I'm here….you're alright"

"You're here?"

"I'm here, don't worry"

"Please don't leave me" his statement shattered her heart into a million tiny pieces.

"Can't you?" Thea mouthed. Nodding Felicity answered.

"I'm not going anywhere, I promise", her declaration made Oliver bury his face in her stomach.  
"Do you want to borrow some PJ's or maybe one of his shirts? I'm sure it'll be like a dress on you" Thea's question was instantly answered by her throwing Felicity one of Oliver's oversized shirts. Slipping away, after she turned him into the pillow beneath his head and whispered into his ear that she'd be back in a second, Felicity moved to his bathroom to get dressed.

* * *

When she returned and climbed into his queen-sized bed (the irony there made her laugh), Oliver had hauled her into his arms and banded his arms around her waist. Laying side-by-side she allowed her hand to move soothingly up and down the back of his neck. So there they lay with Oliver's head cushioned on her shoulder, tucked in under her arm and his arms banding around her petite figure so tightly it was obvious something bad had happened to her in his nightmare to get him to act like this. He was usually so composed, so defended but seeing him this way made her hurt inwardly. Thea smiled at the pair before heading off to her own bed, probably with her boyfriend.

She felt his legs tangle with hers, erasing any distance between them. What had happened to her? Was it Slade again? Just last week they had battled another of Starling's criminals and while there were no causalities, she had sustained a head injury and a pretty bad broken ankle that kept Oliver on his toes around her. Heading back to the Foundry, Oliver had insisted on carrying her back and escorting her back to her house where he even stayed in case of any problems. Even though she had been asleep she could feel his eyes on her, she thought he might have stayed awake the entire night watching her from the couch in her bedroom because when she woke he was fast asleep there, turned towards her. Settling herself down Felicity felt the last of his muscles relax, letting her know he had fallen asleep cuddled into her.

Since she was clearly not getting out of her current situation (not that she wanted to), Felicity laid her head back on the pillows and felt herself drift off into her thoughts and memories with Oliver nesting in her side. That thought alone put a smile on her face before she dropped the last thread of consciousness.

* * *

That night Oliver wasn't plagued with nightmares of him losing his last shred of humanity, instead he was met by sweet dreams of living a perfect life with the woman he loved with everything he had. He dreamed of how his life could be if he allowed himself to be happy.

* * *

Waking up beside Felicity's sleeping form; his body entwined with hers sent a pang of something he had kept locked up within him for a long time. Seeing how his arms were fastened around her waist, securing him to her, also sent a wave of possessiveness coursing through his veins like fire that he thought he had extinguished long ago.

How could someone as broken as him be gifted with someone like Felicity, she was oblivious to what she did to him every single time he saw her. Her cheerfulness with the world, all her bright-coloured clothing, the way she would hum along to a tune while working on her babies (it made a smile embrace him every time she called her computers that, then proceeded to call his bow and arrows his 'babies', all the while making Digg burst out in a fit of laughter until Oliver said that Digg's guns were _his babies_), the way when she sang a song she liked her body would dance to the music, the way she admired him on the Salmon Ladder when he thought she wasn't looking when he actually was, the way she and Digg were there every day by his side, fighting beside him as his partners.

The main thing being the fact that Felicity actually believed in him when not only no one else did, but even when _he _didn't even believe in _himself_. Like she said in his nightmare, she would always stand with him and nobody could ever change her mind on that. That thought alone gave him strength to battle through his wars raging on.

If his life could be so enchanted by someone like her, why should he waste any more time doubting his feelings when they were there clear to the world?

From the contents of his latest nightmare, he wouldn't be able to live another day of his life if he were to lose her from his side, she would take a piece of him along with her that he would never be able to get back.

Shifting her so she was also pressed up against him as well, Oliver cuddled up against her and wrapped himself up in Felicity's scent, Oliver drifted off once again to the promise of the light. Besides it is always darker before the dawn. With Felicity beside him, he could do _anything_.

The days following that night at the Queen Manor, it was routine. Whenever Oliver was struck with nightmares, Thea would call Felicity and she would stay the night. Oliver and Felicity finally made a life together, going official a few weeks later, relieving all of their friends from living another day of insanity of the apparent feelings flying between the pair of them. That didn't make it any less hilarious when Felicity was asked out on a date and Digg had to hold Oliver back from his arrow-mode (as Felicity liked to call it) when one of the lads braved the storm and leaned in for a peck on the lips. It always made everyone laugh how he would then act all possessive over her. In the long run, they couldn't be happier than when they were together.


	4. Starling City's Vigilante

**This trope was supposed to be called Starling City's Vigilante - All In A Day's Work but sadly I couldn't fit it all in, so here's another chapter. Sometime this week I'll try and give you an update with Forbidden Love and maybe A Change of View as well. Enjoy and _review_. **

Damn him and damn John Diggle as well.

Obviously, both men had managed to get themselves caught up in something they didn't want to be in. She had seen it coming from a mile away and she was on the bloody phone. The main hint was the fact that everything had suddenly went from noisy to as silent as the night. So now here she was, pacing the floors in agitation trying to come up with a plan to save the pair of them without getting them both killed at the same time.

Of course this had happened now. Sara and Nyssa were on the boat at god knows where while Roy was taking a well-deserved vacation. She couldn't call him in because by the time he got there, they would be dead men.

So she was the only hope left. Perfect! What _the hell _was she going to do?

Turning in her tracks when an idea hit her like a ton of bricks. Glancing over at the hood costume hanging, teasing her, from inside its glass box, her brain argued at home bad that plan was. She _could_ do it. But it could never work. She would never be able to pull it off. Besides both Digg and Oliver would kill her, but if she didn't they would be dead. She didn't have a choice. Anyways she knew what she was doing; Felicity had designed the tech that Oliver used to deepen his voice, covering his own. Plus she had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Grabbing the clothing in question, Felicity didn't give it another thought as she quickly prepped herself.

It felt weird dressed as the Arrow because it was Oliver's thing, not hers. _Crap! _What about her car, it would definitely stand out. Eying Oliver's Ducati, Felicity didn't let herself think any more on the subject, she was doing this. End of discussion.

Swinging her leg over the saddle and settling onto the bike before revving it into life, this was one of the times in her life when she was grateful of her college days. Everyone experimented right. Well she had dated a motorbike guy that had practically shoved her onto the death trap and sent her blazing off down the road. Shaking her head, she focused on her task at hand.

* * *

Oliver and Digg were being held captive at the docks in one of the neighbouring buildings, where a drug lord was transporting illegal items. They really didn't think about the consequences of their actions until they had guns pressed into their backs. Parking the bike a little far up from where her team mates in case something went south and they needed a quick exit. Luckily Digg had brought his car so she put the Ducati in the line of sight when Digg was at his Bentley.

There was a gap in the walls that Felicity easily navigated, gaining instant access to a view of the entire building. Checking the hood and mask were properly positioned and wouldn't fall off during any possible fights.

"Breath Felicity, breath" she reminded herself, calming her racing heartbeat down before she got to work, "Do it for the guys, however dim-witted they are"

Felicity scanned the scene before her also taking in her surroundings in case of a quick exit. She saw Digg and Oliver on their knees, hands tied up behind their backs, searching for an escape route. Remaining in the shadows provided by the darkened sky, Felicity waited for the perfect chance to strike but also planning what she would do.

Notching an arrow, Felicity positioned herself into the proper stance, and let the arrow fly through the air towards her intended target. She watched on with a proud smile as the arrow knocked the metal pipe right out of the leader's hands, which was raised above his head ready to bring it down on Oliver's stomach. Both team mates looked up into the shadows with shock as they realised whose arrows those belonged to.

Maybe they would think she was Roy, hopefully she could pull that off. Turning on the voice modulator, her unexpected deep voice didn't even make her blink.

"Let them go!" she made herself heard, moving down closer and ready to provide a distraction when needed.

While she had the guard's attentions, Oliver and Digg began trying to free themselves from their bonds but couldn't seem to manage it. Brilliant, now it was up to her. _Focus Felicity, focus _she reminded herself as she locked in combat with one of the guards.

Digg's training kicked into her, booting up her defence system. She couldn't feel any of her limbs, thanks to adrenaline, allowing her to battle through all the guards. Not stopping to register the fact that she was fighting like the vigilante would and the fact that not once had she been put on her ass or received a blow that the guards were throwing.

* * *

Everything was going surprisingly well. Because she had the upper-hand advantage, Felicity easily took out the first and second guard. When she twirled around to face the small group of men, Felicity notched another arrow and aimed it at the men's feet and released. As soon as it was latched in the ground, they all looked up at her.

"Missed!" one of the men shouted, with an obvious smirk in his voice until she replied.

"Did I?" keeping her words to a minimum, because that was how the Arrow talked and she didn't feel like blowing her cover.

Broken pieces of wood and metal flew everywhere, covering her head with her arms; the outcome wasn't actually as bad as she thought it would be. Honestly, she couldn't believe she just did that. They had to get out of there in case any more goons decided to show up.

Moving over to Oliver and Digg, who now took a proper look at her figure and now realised exactly who it was, still wearing shocked, with what she'd just done, and slightly annoyed expressions. Taking out her knife from her boot to but the bonds, Felicity turned off the voice modulator since it wasn't really necessary anymore.

"Are you two alright?" Felicity asked first, removing the hood but not the mask. Suddenly Oliver was grabbing her by her shoulders.

"_Are you insane?! You could've got yourself killed!_" Oliver was first to break out of the trance, yelling at her. Thank god no more conscious guards were in or anywhere near the building.

"I am _not _apologising for saving your sorry asses but how about we shout at each other back at the Foundry" Felicity suggested, rolling up the left sleeve of the hood to a gadget on located on her wrist, which she quickly sent the footage that any of the cameras picked up, of them, to the lair's secure servers and moved the sleeve back into place again. "Come on, follow me" Felicity stated before taking off towards where she had parked the bike, double checking that the CCTV camera's didn't pick up anything that could be used against them, before retreating back to his bike.

"Hold on, what are you doing on my bike?"

"Oliver really not the time, get your ass on that bike and I'll meet you both back at the lair"

"Are you coming or not?"

"Scoot back then"

"Oliver for god's sake, we don't have time to argue about whose driving, now get on!" Felicity snapped, sparking something in him that he wasn't quite aware of. Growling, he obeyed and hopped on the back, taking the helmet she handed him, one was always hidden under the back seat of the bike.

Revving the bike to life, Felicity shot off towards the Foundry.

The sudden movement made Oliver wrap his arms around her waist tightly and he was glad that his hood covered the majority of her body; otherwise this would be quite awkward for him right now. Moving his head so his face was nested between her shoulder blades, her scent overflowed his senses and he couldn't help the way his mind seem to memorise her scent for later purposes. His mind seemed to taunt him with thoughts of her.

"Oliver?" Felicity's soft voice broke him back to reality to see that they were outside the club, still on the bike and with his body still firmly attached to her back and his arms tightly snaked around her waist.

"Hmm…" he replied, not trusting his voice at that moment.

"You need to let me go so we can both get off" she stated, turning her head to the side to look at him.

"Oh…right" his voice came out a little breathy, maybe that was from how his mind was currently torturing him. Reluctantly releasing his grip around her waist and moving to get off his bike. He should've gone with Digg because right now he was in danger of losing control of himself and probably leading up to something that he would never regret but could also jeopardise his relationship, friendship with Felicity.

It had only been a few months after he had said those three blasted words that summed up his feelings towards her. To think that she probably still thought that he was just lying about it to get Slade to think he truly did love her, but to perfectly honest in that moment the thought of just telling her about how he felt about her, unburdening him.

* * *

Walking back to the lair, Oliver found himself tangling his fingers with hers, _needing _the contact in that moment.

She could've gotten herself killed doing something as stupid as that but he was _so _proud of her improving skills with combat, showing him that she was getting better at looking after herself. But at that same time he wished she was still the person that he had to save, had to protect because it showed her innocence with the nightmares of his life. Nobody ever knew that he used to love knowing that he was needed in her life, to shield her from the world. It wasn't the same with Laurel because he didn't feel anywhere near what he felt with Felicity.

Leading him to the med-bay, Felicity pushed at his chest to get him to settle himself on the edge so she could check him over for any injuries.

"Still can't believe you both got yourselves caught" she muttered, focusing her attention of the gash across his cheek from where he'd been hit time and time again in an attempt to knock him out.

"Wasn't our brightest hours" trying to keep his gaze off of her face and on something else while she fixed him up.

"Gee, you think?" she scoffed, clearly angry with them.

"Well at least we didn't endanger our lives going into a situation where you have no idea _how _many men are there, _what_'s going on in there and _knowing _if you're even going to come out alive" his anger flared up, but it didn't seem to faze her as she never paused with anaesthetic.

"Still wouldn't have changed my mind, I took a gamble and it paid off"

"Well what if that gamble hadn't of paid off? What then?"

"It didn't come to that so stop thinking about it alright, we're all still alive so let it go" this got his blood boiling.

"I can't! Knowing the fact that you gambled with your life for us, I can't let that go!" Felicity finished with the first aid and took a step back; to make sure she'd done the first aid right, and then went over to the monitors to check up on the footage the CCTV cameras picked up.

"Looks like you're going to have to…besides you don't see me giving you this conversation because I know that whatever you choose is your choice, it's your life so you can decide what you do with it" turning around to face him so it didn't enrage him more with her back to him.

"DAMMIT FELICITY! Stop with that saying, I don't care what you think about my life because in the end yours is more important than mine!" his face went red with annoyance at her.

"BULLSHIT! Your life is not more important than mine, I'm not the one saving and protecting this city you are you giant asshole! You and Digg can always find another I.T girl for your little escapade, but another you or Digg is impossible! So don't you tell me that your life isn't important because it is and that's all I'm saying tonight, so if you don't mind yelling at me about how much you hate my decision with saving both your asses tonight, save it because right now I'm going to concentrate on not blowing the secret!" Felicity took a deep breathe, calming her heart rate down since right now it was all over the place and turned her attention back to the monitors again as Digg came down the stairs.

The thing Felicity was oblivious to, but Digg clearly saw, was the fact that her little speech had really gotten on Oliver's last nerve because his jaw was tightened almost painfully and his hands were clenched into tight fists in an attempt to calm down and not explode but not getting very far.

Not caring about the footage, Oliver waltzed over to her chair and spun it around so she facing him.

"Oliver!" Felicity protested and tried to get up but he wouldn't relent, pushing her back down into her previous position again.

Putting each hand on the armrests of her chair, effectively trapped her in, he leaned down slightly. Meanwhile, Digg proceeded with checking the footage, deleting bits that would expose the secret.

"Don't you DARE say that you're just some I.T girl Felicity, because you're _much _more than that, you're the heart of this team and it would be impossible to replace _you_, and trust me when I say this something happened to you then this team would slowly break apart" if he wasn't Oliver then in that moment she guessed he would probably be crying if it wasn't for him shielding his emotions from the world so he didn't end up getting hurt.

During the whole time, he was leaning down towards her. Digg had seen what he was trying to do so he decided to go see Lyla, since she was pregnant with his kid.

"Felicity…" he whispered out breathlessly as his face was beginning to reach breathing distance from Felicity's.

"Oliver…" she started, moving her face closer to his and whispered "I'd do it again and there isn't anything you can do to convince me otherwise", this seemed to ruin the moment because as soon as the words were out of her mouth, his jaw tightened in response.

"Nothing?" his tone was soft, cocking his head, and she sensed a hint of teasing masked with a daring sense, was he challenging her?

"Absolutely, _nothing_" she clarified

"You sure about that?"

"Yep" she popped the 'p' at the end. Once again she leaned up slightly, making him think she was going in for a kiss so he instinctively parted his lips, "I'm going to head home"

"Aren't you forgetting something?" reminding her that ever since they'd been back, she hadn't taken off the hood. From the sight of her wrapped up in his hood made a possessive feeling wash over him, waking up parts of him that had been sleeping for quite some time.

"Damn it, I almost got away with it too" Felicity mused, "See you tomorrow, try not to get yourself kidnapped while I'm gone alright"

"Oh, ha ha very funny"

"Kind of is, that's the point fun police" she muttered

"Heard you"

"Supposed to" she called out before shutting the door behind her.

* * *

Falling asleep that night was harder than before.

Her brain was catching up with what she'd done when she'd saved Oliver and Digg. She congratulated herself on being an awesome bad ass. Shifting into a comfortable position, Felicity heard the window slowly open.

Thanks to Digg and Oliver, she was more aware of her surroundings and what was happening around her. Footsteps slowly approached her bedroom, lying as still as she could to make the person think she was asleep, Felicity continued like this until she felt the bed dip beside her. There was someone directly behind her.

"Did you really think you could escape me?" the person spoke and instantly she recognised the voice. He must've thought she was still asleep because he made no move to touch her however; she on the other hand had different plans. Rolling herself and him over so she was lying on top of him, Felicity saw he was dressed as the Arrow.

"What are you doing?"

"I could ask you the same" he stated with a huskiness in his tone before flipping their positions over.

"So, you going to answer the question or are you just here to scare me into admitting defeat?"

"I have no idea what you're on about" she glared at him.

"Nothing you do can change my decision and that is final" Felicity launched herself up and forward, moving him off of her in the process, and moving to the foot of the bed. "Absolutely _nothing_" receiving a growl from Oliver, Felicity went into the living room and plopped down on the sofa and switched on the TV to The Jeremy Kyle Show. Crossing her feet at her ankles, she rested them on the coffee table before Oliver decided to join her, pulling her into his side. Glancing up at him, Felicity raised her eyebrow at him.

"What, do you really think you can escape me that easily?" not answering him, instead turning her attention to Jeremy Kyle, who was currently dealing with the situation of 'DNA test proved I was the Dad so why won't you let me see my children?'

"Some people just really aren't cut out to be parents" she stated a quarter into the show.

"One things for sure, the people coming onto this show never cease to amaze me but not in a good way though"

"I second that" she agreed laughing at Jeremy Kyle's response to someone's statement.

* * *

By the time that the second episode of the show ended and went into the third, Felicity was curled up into Oliver's side while his eyes were still trained onto the TV screen.

Felicity was basically sitting in his lap in the position she was asleep in. Her head was nested on his left shoulder while her legs were stretched out across his lap, his arm was fastened around her, securing her to him in case something happened and she accidently fell off of the couch but it was mainly because he loved feeling her against him, that way he felt she was there.

His legs were crossed at the ankles and propped up on her coffee table, like Felicity's earlier position before he had stolen her away and pulled her up against him. Glancing down at her sleeping figure, she looked so peaceful and young in her sleep.

"Come on let's get you back to bed" he said, gathering her into his arms and moving towards the bedroom.

When she shifted he froze. Burrowing her way closer into him, Oliver had to lock down not only that possessive feeling, making a reappearance again, but also a thought of how else he could get her to burrow into him like that.

Shaking those thoughts out of his head, Oliver gently placed Felicity in her bed before moving round to the other side and making himself comfortable, joining her in the bed and once again pulling her into his side. Felicity didn't seem to mind as she tucked herself in under his arm, cuddled close against him; resting her head on his chest and her hand lay over his heart.

Seeming satisfied, he slowly feel asleep to the feel of having Felicity pulled up tightly into his side and the sound of his heartbeat. How was it possible that in his dark, lonely life he got so lucky? That was a question that he could never answer. But it was for another day, for now he was content with falling asleep with his girl wrapped up in his arms.


	5. Trouble

**I came up with this trope while watching an episode of Jeremy Kyle, everything got quite heated. Something about a so called father wanting to see his kids but the mother not allowing him the permission, maybe because he was drunk or something. I can't really remember exactly but anyways. Send it any prompts! I find it fun writing from your suggestions. Next up, another chapter of A Change of View. :P**

It was a normal morning at QC, just another day at work. Oliver was behind his desk signing papers, giving his approval on various on-going projects. Digg was standing guard at his usual corner, with both Oliver and Felicity's desks in view while Felicity was behind her desk, typing away at her computer. She had finished her work for both jobs so now she could enjoy playing Candy Crush. Well that was her intention anyway. Her phone began ringing, the sound bouncing around within the two offices and gaining both men's attention in the process. Clicking off the game, she answered the call.

"Hello" the voice that replied instantly put a smile on her face, lighting up her eyes.

"Auntie Flisscity" her nephew, Ryan's, voice replied. He couldn't really pronounce her name quite right. Ryan was the son of her sister, Melanie, and they had a very tight relationship because she was there for them during the years, including Ryan's birth and birthdays and Christmases, and was on call whenever they needed her.

"Ryan!" she could see both Digg and Oliver's reactions in her peripheral vision. Oliver's head shot up while Digg knew exactly she was talking to, since he also met them during the months in Oliver's absence, so had a giant smile on his face. This was not ignored by the obviously curious CEO looking between Digg's smile and Felicity's chipper voice.

"Flisscity…daddies found us" Ryan's voice was full of fear and Felicity knew why.

"What?" everything froze for Felicity, this wasn't good. Focusing on Ryan, she replied "…can you put mummy on the phone Ryan?" she heard him calling for her and her approach over the phone, her concentration on her sister and her nephew.

"Liz, he's here…he's found us, he called me saying 'I know where you are'…Liz what do I do, I can't let him near Ryan" she could tell what state her sister was in solemnly on her voice, and she petrified. Also she was panicking.

"Mel listen to me…stay where you are, I'll be there as soon as I can" Felicity tried to calm her sister, rising and packing her purse. This made both men rise as well and go over to her office.

"Liz no, you remember what happened last time…he can't see you near Ryan, he'd kill you"

"Mel, I don't care what he says, I care about the two of you…stay put, I'm coming" and with that she hung up, before her sister could convince her not to.

"Felicity what's wrong?" Oliver came in front of her desk.

"I just need to go, my sister's and her nephew are in trouble" Felicity said, not looking at either Oliver or Digg.

"Who was the man you were talking about?" if she had time to stop and analyse his voice then she would've realised that it was laced with jealously but she really didn't have the time to do that, so instead she just ignored it.

"Oliver I don't have time, they need me _now_"

"Then we're coming with you" he Oliver stated, looking behind him at Digg. They exchanged a look before focusing on Felicity again.

"I don't have time to argue, so no…this is something I have to deal with alright"

"Like you said you don't have time to argue, we're coming and that's final…no one's going to hurt you or your sister and her nephew" she didn't reply, not pausing in her movements so they took it as her 'whatever'.

* * *

In the car Felicity told them about how her sister had fallen in love with the quarter back in high school, so Ryan was born. But a couple months after his birth, she had fled from George taking Ryan with her, and had come to Felicity and she had taken them in, cared for them and helped with keeping him from George.

How he was a terrible father, an abusive drunk who used to threaten them all. This wasn't taken in lightly by either man, Felicity could see Oliver's jaw tighten almost painfully and Digg's grip on the wheel, turn into a white-knuckle grip.

* * *

Upon their arrival, Felicity was relieved to see that she couldn't see George's car anywhere in the neighbourhood. When she entered Melanie's house, Mel threw herself at Felicity and hugged her tightly then she went on to hug Ryan, who cried into her shoulder. Introducing them to Oliver and Digg, Mel thanked them for coming with her 'stubborn' sister.

"You shouldn't have come though Liz"

"I told you I was coming, he doesn't scare me…hasn't for a long time, pack your bags your coming to live with me…both of you" Ryan never released his death grip on his favourite auntie.

"But…"

"No buts, I told you from day 1 that I wasn't going to let him hurt either one of you and I'm keeping my promise"

"Thank you" Mel hugged her, being careful to mind her son in the process.

"No need, you're my sister…I would always protect you two"

* * *

When Melanie had both her and Ryan's bags packed, they heard the familiar roar of an engine outside the house.

"He's here" Mel's face turned pale white while Felicity didn't even twitch, Ryan buried his face further into Felicity's neck, crying. Neither Oliver nor Digg weren't disregarding the fact that this George guy had both Melanie and Ryan petrified and Felicity looked like she was about to face a demon, which didn't go past either man too lightly either. Why were they so afraid of him?

"Mel, take Ryan"

"What are you going to do?"

"Something I should've done a long time ago" she admitted to her sister, giving her a quick smile.

"Liz…you know what he did last time" Mel warned, fearing for her sister's life.

"He can't hurt me, I'm not afraid of him this time…besides, you've got the restraining order so he can't come anywhere near you" that seemed to startle both men, but not in a good way.

"He hurt you?" Oliver's expression looked murderous and Digg's wasn't any better. They really didn't like that truth bomb. Felicity was hoping that they wouldn't find out that George had hurt her in her attempt to defend her sister.

* * *

Exiting the house to face George, Oliver was beside her the entire time while Digg stayed with Melanie and Ryan.

"Don't worry about Liz, Oliver's with her and George would never be able even lay a finger on her let alone hurt her" it felt comfortable calling Felicity 'Liz', since they had a tight relationship and he was deciding on the nickname he should give her.

"Thank you John, for both your and Oliver's help with this…I'm glad she's such good friends with the two of you, I feel much better that she's got the two of you by her side…it means I can sleep easier knowing that"

"You're welcome, Liz is like my little sister and so I protect her with my life, always there whenever she needs me and with Oliver, they have a deeper friendship almost to the point of lovers…but the problem is they never admit that they love each other to one another but you can see it in the way that they look and act around each other…if ever Liz gets hurt, Oliver's always beside her no matter what…he looks after her and so do I, we're a team and no one can ever split us up"

"I'm glad, so you're like a little family…the three of you"

"Yep pretty much"

* * *

Meanwhile outside, George had pulled up onto the curb and quickly had Felicity in his line of sight.

"Well, well, well it's been a long time since I saw you" his tone sent a shiver up her spine but Felicity didn't let it faze her. Besides she's the one with Oliver beside her, well actually more in front of her.

"Don't take another step towards us" she growled out. Her tone caused Oliver to tense up and she could see his body coiled up, ready for action. George didn't stand a chance.

"Yeah and who's gonna make me?" cocking his head, "…you? What makes you think I won't hesitate to put you in hospital yet again?"

"Touch her and it'll be the last thing you _ever _do" Oliver snarled, pushing him clear from her. Positioning his body between his girl and the bastard, who he was debating on whether or not to punch that smug grin clean off his face.

"Who are you, the cavalry? You can't stop me from seeing my son!"

"Ryan's not your son, he never was…Mel gave you a chance at being a father and you screwed it up, just like you did with your life…and I swear to god if you even so much as touch either one of them, I will have you behind bars before you can even blink" she was sick to death at this piece of crap being the source of so many nightmares. She stepped out from behind Oliver and waltzed right up to him, intimidating him like he had done oh so long ago. "…anyways aren't you forgetting something, Mel has a restraining order…so you can't get _anywhere _near Ryan _in your life_" in that moment Felicity could pass for being the Arrow, because she had the voice down without the help of the voice modulator. Even though she was clearly handling herself, this didn't deter Oliver, because he was standing beside Felicity, in case the bastard threw a punch.

"I preferred the old you" George's attempt at intimidating Felicity was completely lost on her because as soon as he stepped into her personal space, she responded by shoving him back. The surprising force shoved him back into his car, tripping himself up in the process.

"If you think for _a second_ that I scared of you then you are _clearly_ mistaken…all you are some pathetic son-of-a-bitch taking advantage of people smaller than you" if Felicity turned to look at Oliver, his entertained face would be lighting up his face in a devilish manor. In that moment, Mel came wandering out onto the porch of her house with Ryan clinging onto her and Digg standing guard in front of them.

"I don't want to see your face anywhere near my son, like Liz said…_you are not his father_, because his dad is the man that I fell in love with in high school…not this drunken lunatic"

"YOU CAN'T KEEP MY SON FROM ME!" George seemed outraged by that remark, pushing Felicity back and attempting to throw a punch at her but didn't expect to her dodge the blow and land one of her own to his face, breaking his nose in the process.

"YOU BITCH, LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" he roared at her.

"You've had that a long time coming! You're nothing but a waste of space" she growled at him, spite lacing her tone. Infuriated he once again came at Felicity again but was immobilised by Oliver knocking him out cold.

"Like I said, don't touch her" he muttered, turning to her "…are you okay?"

"Honestly, I've never been better…but I want that piece of crap far away from here though"

"I agree with that entirely" Digg interjected, turning to lead Mel and a still weeping Ryan back into the house while Felicity called Detective Lance about the unconscious man.

* * *

"Don't worry, you won't be hearing from him for a long time" Lance comforted Melanie. They had told him about what had happened.

"Thank you Lance" Melanie thanked, walking him out the door.

Ryan was watching 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' with Digg, who had them both in his peripheral vision but already knew the conversation they were having, since Felicity had already accidently mentioned something about it and Digg had dug at it until she told him what had happened fully. But he also knew Oliver wasn't going to like a single second of it.

"Felicity"

"Yeah"

"What happened before?" she knew he wouldn't be able to stay quiet for long, especially when he heard about her getting put in hospital. Seating herself on the couch beside Oliver, she trained her gaze on her hands and avoiding his gaze as much as possible. She would have to get through this next bit.

"We were at a friend's house, Ryan was having a play date, and he just suddenly appeared. So I defended my sister and nephew without a second thought, I went out to stop him from entering the house. He…uh…he didn't like the fact that I was separating him from Ryan and he…he…" breathing deeply, she continued with her eyes shut tight "…he began threatening me and grabbed me by my throat and threw me onto the ground, beating me and kicking me. He tried to enter the house again but I wouldn't relent…he hit me with, I think, a crowbar also breaking my leg until Giselle, the friend, called the cops and Mel got the restraining order against George…he put me in the hospital for about six months. In the end I ended up with a broken leg, broken ribs, a black eye and bruised wrist" her hands had started shaking halfway through her story so she had crossed her fingers over in an attempt to stop them from shaking. Risking a glance at Oliver, his jaw was tightened painfully, his hands clenched as fists, his features had darkened and were set. She knew he was barely controlling his anger.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"I didn't want to…I hate bringing it up and besides I've moved past it, today helping with that" she smiled at herself for what she had done, proud with herself. Tilting her chin up so she no other choice but to look at him, he looked down with such care; it sent her stomach flipping at the sight.

"You can always talk to me about anything, I'll listen and comfort you, any way I can"

"I know, but it doesn't affect me anymore…not as much as it used to"

"Well I'm just glad I was here with you, I'd never let anyone hurt you on my watch…you know that right?"

"Yeah I do, thank you…for everything and Digg too, who is probably listening to this conversation right now" she skimmed over at him, smirking.

"Always is" Oliver reached over to entangle his fingers with hers. Yep, both he and Digg would always be there for her, whether she liked it or not.

Smiling over at him, she drifted sideways to rest up against Oliver, who seemed to welcome the action, since he was banding an arm around her waist, tucking her in against him.

Yep, there was no way in hell that she could ever be scared of anything again with her boys by her side, and they weren't going anywhere any time soon. They were a family. That thought got a smile on her face.

"Always" Oliver muttered against into her hair. _Crap! _She had said that out loud. Seriously she needed to get her brain to mouth filter fixed. Sighing in contentment, Felicity drifted off at the promise of tomorrow. Dawning a new day for Team Arrow.


	6. Mint Choc Chip Ice Cream

She was wrapped up in her favourite blanket when she felt peckish, craving mint choc chip ice cream but her freezer was empty of it.

Both Oliver and Digg had told her a thousand times over _not _to go out to the shops at night, especially the fact that she has to walk through the Glades to get to the shops.

Grabbing her MIT hoodie, Felicity started off towards the 24-hour convenience shop. The streets were completely empty and silent, apart from the sound of cars whizzing past her.

If either man knew what she was doing, oh she would be so dead right now.

* * *

Oliver was out on patrol, checking over the city, making sure everything and everyone was safe. He had just parked his motorbike nearby while he scaled the buildings, he always preferred having going to high ground because then it allowed him to not only see more of what was going on around him but also if an attack took place then he would have the upper hand advantage.

He was checking over the Glades when he saw a woman heading into a shop near the outskirts of the Glades. Her face was obscured by the oversized hoodie she wore, the sleeves ending over her hands. Frowning, that hoodie looked like the same one he had seen Felicity wear once when she had been sick one weekend.

She looked so familiar but he wasn't sure.

Stopping on a nearby rooftop, Oliver crouched and waited until he had a proper unobstructed view of her face to see if he did know her.

His hands clenched tightly into fists when he thought he knew who the blonde woman was and if he was right then that person would be in _deep_ trouble.

* * *

She had just purchased two tubs of mint choc chip when she heard the door of the shop open. Thinking it was just another customer; Felicity didn't bother turning around to see who it was so grabbed her bag and change from the cashier, who had a strange look on his face.

Suddenly she was being turned and thrown over someone's shoulder. All she saw before she was hanging over his shoulder was a flurry of green.

"What the?!" one moment she was inside the shop paying for her ice cream then the next he was carrying her outside. Able to make the outline of a hood Felicity knew exactly who was currently carrying her out of the shop. "Put…me…down…right…now!"

"No…way…in…hell, what did we tell you about going grocery shopping in the middle of the night and especially at night in the Glades?"

"Look, I'm not arguing with you when you have me thrown over your shoulder…so if you want me to answer that then…put me down on the ground where my feet are supposed to be!"

Letting loose a growl that caused a shiver to run her spine, Oliver released his iron grip of the back of her legs and let her body slide down his body so they were standing chest to chest.

"You were saying?" She rolled her eyes at him before returning her gaze back into his eyes again. He never stopped trying to intimidate her but she hadn't been intimidated by him ever since she first signed up to the team, temporarily.

"I'm saying that before I even met either one of you I was taking care of myself perfectly fine, including walking at night through the Glades…so excuse me if old habits die hard"

"That's just the thing Felicity, you have both of us on your side so excuse for trying to take care of you…now before we get into a full-blown argument get your ass on that bike, or we might just end up on the front cover of the newspaper!" Felicity was so used to his voice modulator and with him yelling at her with it still on so now it was pretty easy to just ignore it whenever they got into yet another argument.

"Well, _Arrow_, if you haven't noticed yet I've got two legs for a thing called _walking _so if you don't mind, I'm going to _use them _and _walk _back home" so before he got a chance to talk her out of it, she turned and began home. What made her think that he was just going to leave it there clearly needed a refresh or reboot, Oliver _never _just leaves it there especially when it comes to arguments regarding her safety.

The roar of the Ducati engine got her attention on Oliver once again but she didn't turn to him, just kept walking.

Suddenly the world was going by faster than before. He had snatched her off the side of the road and she was now sitting sideways, leaning up against his chest and boxed in by his arms holding onto the handlebars, firmly.

"Urgh…you are so infuriating!"

"Me? I'm not the one who was walking through the Glades at night! Anything could've happened to you!" stealing a glance down at her pulled up tight against him, he returned his direct line of sight to the road.

"I've been doing this ever since I met either one of you!"

"Trust me; I'm putting a stop to that"

"Stop the bike"

"No, I'm driving you home…end of discussion" Felicity was silent for the rest of the ride home.

* * *

"It's not your decision what I do with my life" was the first thing she said when they were back in her house. Oliver had removed the hood and mask when she had closed all windows and curtains.

"No but when you decide to do something as stupid as that, then it's my business"

"I don't see why"

"Felicity your safety is _always _important to me and you know that, but yet you keep going behind both mine and Digg's backs doing things like walking through the Glades _at night _alone…and you wonder why we worry about you so much…both of us have lost someone close to us and we don't want the same to happen to you"

"Don't start that again-" when he tried to interrupt she continued, ignoring him "-look Oliver I really don't want to have this conversation again…I did something that you aren't comfortable with but so what, both you and Digg do things I'm not comfortable with and you don't see me exploding like this"

"Felicity you know the answer to that" he ground out.

"If you want someone to protect and pretend to be a bodyguard or whatever you do…then do it with Laurel because unlike me she actually likes having you stalking around her every night"

"Is that what you're pissed at me about, Laurel?" At his statement, she threw her head back growling and hid her face in her hands.

"It's not about Laurel! What it's about is the fact that everyone's acting like I'm some fine-wound china that could break at any moment and that does something to a person"

"We're just protecting you"

"You know what I can't be bothered to fight right now, I'm tired"

"Yeah well so am I, look all any one's trying to do is to protect you because we don't want you ending up like the rest of us…battered, broken, lost. You're innocence brings a sense of relief to the team and all of us cherish that and if we lost you then we ourselves would be lost Felicity, we use you to guide us through hard times because you are always there by our sides every day, whenever we need you and we don't want to lose that" Oliver began pacing back and forth, rambling while Felicity just stood there trying her best to take it all in without making him even more upset.

"We can't lose you, I can't lose you…ever since day 1, you've been taking me to a place that I'm not familiar with and it chases all the bad in my life away. You see me in a way that I don't even see, where I see a murderer you see a hero and I've been wracking my brain ever since I met you trying to figure it out…been trying to figure you out. Every single time you're in the lair with everyone else, we're happy…_you _make us happy and sometimes you don't even realise that you're doing it but you are…" Oliver trailed off.

She realised that he wasn't going to be stopping any time soon and she _really _wanted to go to bed, literally her brain was screaming at her to go to sleep while she thought her body could collapse at any moment.

* * *

Later on when she looked back, she would say it was the dreariness that possessed her to do it but honestly she would never know.

Sighing Felicity waltzed right up to Oliver, cradled his face and kissed him. Pulling back she had to bit her bottom lip to contain the laughter bubbling up in her throat.

He looked like he'd just seen a ghost.

Breathing deeply, she told him.

"As much as I would love to just sit and watch you rambling away, I _really _need to go to sleep…because right now, my body feels like it's about to collapse in a pile on the floor…so, yeah night"

When she glanced back over her shoulder at him, she smirked at how he was still frozen in place, staring off after her.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked when she had her hand on the start of the banister, running up her staircase. She hadn't expected him to ask her that question until the next time he saw her.

The surprising question made her halt in her tracks. Upon hearing his footsteps behind her, snapped Felicity out of her state of mind.

"Mostly, to shut you up…like I said, I'm really tired" turning around, Felicity saw just how close he was to her, his face a short distance away from her own.

"So it wasn't because of anything else?"

"Not that I can think of…it was just to get to shut up, hence the reason I said it…it didn't mean anything, not every kiss does" honestly Felicity didn't really want this conversation right now. What she wanted was her bed.

"I mean…" she searched for an example, staring off into space "…when…you kissed Laurel goodbye, that didn't mean anything from what you told me, it was just a goodbye kiss that's it…so that was just a shut-up-I'm-tired-and-want-to-go-to-bed kiss nothing else"

Her foot inched closer to the bottom step, trying to slowly edge her way closer to her bedroom.

"I don't believe that" Oliver moved closer to her, erasing the distance she'd just made.

"Then what do you believe? Look can we continue this another time because I'm going to end up falling asleep on the stairs"

"If you do then I'll carry you up"  
"Not the point"  
"Just answer this...did it mean anything to you?"

"You're asking me to search my brain for the answers when it's slowly shutting down on me?"

"Fe-li-ci-ty" he strained her name.

"Fine…I'm not sure what it meant"

"I think it meant something"

"Well there you go then…there's your answer, can I go up to bed now? Or are you going to deprive me of sleep any longer?" she asked sarcastically, rising her eyebrow and tilting her head to the side.

For a second she swore he slowly leant closer to her, or was she just seeing things.

All of sudden she felt him crash his lips against hers, one arm banded around her waist coming to rest on her hip while the other came around her shoulders. Positioning her head to allow him to deepen the kiss, the arm that was wrapped around her shoulders moved to around her neck, cushioning her head from where it was tilted to the side.

In this position it limited her access to pull away from both Oliver and the kiss, leaving him in total control of how long it lasted for.

Realising that she probably wasn't going to be getting out of the kiss for a while, Felicity wrapped both his arms around his torso but she wasn't quite sure if it was from making sure he didn't suddenly drop her or to pull him even closer. He was currently devouring her mouth, tongues fighting for dominance, for control.

Pulling away silently for air, Felicity's brain seemed to take the chance to rid her mind of the current thought.

"Well so much for sleeping then" as soon as it was out of her mouth Felicity's eyes shut tight while she could feel Oliver's chest rumbling, he was laughing. "You do realise that I blame you for my brain to mouth filter going out of order again"

"Well I actually like it when it's out of order; it makes these kinds of moments much less awkward on my end"

"I hate you and not just from the way you basically kidnapped me from the side of the street"

"Can you blame me?"

"If you haven't currently noticed, that's what_ I am_ doing"

"Still tired or have you got a sudden perk of energy?"

"Wouldn't you like to know"

Wait. Was she flirting?

She, Felicity Smoak, was flirting with Oliver Queen and actually good at it. She never would've thought she would be saying that to herself and by herself she meant in her mind, where she mostly says things about others but her brain to mouth filter just manages to stop her from saying them out loud. Looks like it doesn't completely hate her.

"I'd watch yourself if I were you" Jesus Christ, what the hell was happening here? She was flirting with him and he was flirting back. _Shut up brain! _

"Or what?" Felicity teased.

_No, no, no stop it! _Stop flirting with him! You know what could possibly do, back away and go to bed…alone!

Where's the fun in that?

_You could lose him as a friend, _do you really want that? Say you're too tired to do any more and back _the hell _away from him, right now.

When did my brain turn into a normal mother's brain?

It's called common sense!

No it's not, it's called _being cautious_!

Everything happened so quickly, one moment he was devishly smirking at her and the next lifting her up clean off the floor and carrying her upstairs. Out of impulse, Felicity wrapped her legs around his waist to keep her from falling but didn't seem to take in how when she did, how her hips grinded into his and got a throaty growl- almost Arrowy -out of his.

Uh oh, now she was in trouble.

Backing the pair into the nearest wall, Oliver's mouth latched onto hers as he pulled back into the pre-island senses to guide them to her bedroom.

Stumbling into the bedroom Felicity barely managed to close the door before they landed on her bed. Oliver crawled further up the bed with her still attached securely to his chest.

Placing both his arms on either side of her head, he hovered above her by his powerful forearms. She trusted him, he knew that.

Giving in to the overwhelming impulses coursing her body every time his tongue stroked hers. Felicity let herself go. Their forgotten clothes ending up in a pile on the floor beside the bed and her glasses lying on the bedside table.

From that point on was a complete blur to her, maybe the weariness was fully kicking in but she wouldn't forget the way Oliver acted like she was so fragile, gently running his hands over her body.

* * *

When the break of dawn finally came after the heated night, he was first to wake.

The sun was streaming in through the window.

Directing his gaze to the radiant woman lying sprawled over his chest, wrapped up safely in his arms. Her golden hair flowing over his chest, legs entwined with his own and completely free of any ounce of clothing.

In that one moment she would give anything to wake up to such beauty every day for the rest of his life because it was then he finally knew what was meant by true love, that was all he felt for the woman who had always been by his side, day in and day out. Moments from the night before graced his memory, how it felt to have her beneath him and they were one. All it was them, Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen two different people from two different lives trying to find their ways in the world.

The alarm on his phone sounded, breaking him out of the trance. Reaching over, being careful not to wake the sleeping blonde in his arms, he shut the alarm off.

For once in his life, all he wanted was right there in that moment.

Sending Digg a quick text notifying him that neither him nor Felicity would be in for work that day, he turned the device off and turned his attention back to the love of his life and drifted back off to the promise of the beginning of a new life.


	7. The Sleeper

**Alright so this is a bit of a longer trope than my other ones but I'm curious to see if this one works out and you guys like it. Any prompts you want me to write a story to, send me a PM or a review with your prompt and see what things my brain comes up with. **

"What if Oliver finds out?" Roy was always the voice of worry whenever it came to Oliver, since he was going out with his little sister.

"I don't think you need to worry about him, Thea is pretty much taking care of him…he's going to be with her the entire time and they're not going to be there" Felicity threw over her shoulder while her fingers didn't falter in their speed, dancing across the keyboard.

"Well we definitely know who the boss is here don't we" Digg mused, cleaning his gun as Felicity turned and threw a smirk his way.

"And don't you forget it"

"I feel sorry for that man right now…oh wait on second thought, no I don't…he deserves everything that's coming to him"

"So just one last run through, what's the plan that I'm probably going to be regretting later on?"

"Digg it'll be fine and things go south, Roy will be there for backup and you'll be outside in the van on the comms the entire time…I'm going to go in as try and get his interest…which with the dress I've chosen won't be a problem…he'll invite me into the back room, and I'll knock him out, plant the bug then get out and say he had too much to drink"

"What if he recognises you?"

"I wouldn't worry about that I've got it covered…now if you boys don't mind" Felicity grabbed the duffle bag that was sitting by her feet "I'm going to get dressed" she said before making her way to the bathroom.

* * *

Making sure she couldn't overhear the conversation, Roy moved in front of Digg's desk.

"I'm not so sure about this whole thing and the fact that she doesn't want Oliver in on it doesn't make it any less easy to wrap my head around"

"Don't worry kid you're not the only one and with the thing about Oliver, she's not telling him because both of us know that he will make a big deal out of this and do something that will get on her last nerve, he always hates when she goes out in the field but when she's going undercover then that's even worse…we just have to make sure we have eyes on her up to when she goes into the back room and when she comes out, she'll be on the comms the entire time so she's going to keep that on"

It took twenty minutes for Felicity to put her entire outfit together.

* * *

The bathroom door clicked open; it gained the attention of both of the men, whose jaws dropped when they saw her. If they didn't know that was Felicity, they wouldn't even recognise her.

"Judging by your reactions I'm guessing I did choose the right dress"

"Good idea…and Felicity I don't think you have to worry about not getting the guys interest, you've already got mine" that earned his a slap over the back of the head by Digg.

"Watch your mouth kid"

"Just thought I'd say it"

"Thanks Roy, now you guys ready?"

"I still think this isn't such a good plan"

"Well let's get going then"

* * *

He'd been trying to get out of this all night but no matter what he did, it was no use. When Thea wants to spend a night with you, she'll get what she wants.

"Ollie can we go to a different club, this one's _so boring_…I know one just a little bit down the road from here"

"Sure I guess" as they made their way down the other club, Oliver was in for one hell of a surprise.

* * *

"Felicity, are you sure about this? You can still back out if you want"

"No, I'm good"

"You do realise Oliver's probably going to lock you up in a padded room for a good few right?"

"And probably swallow the key so anyone who'd want to get to you would have to go through him first" Roy joked.

"You're just lucky that he couldn't escape his sister tonight otherwise this would be very interesting to watch…so we're in agreement, don't tell Oliver"

"I see him"

"I've got eyes on him too, he's heading over to the bar"

"Felicity, be careful…I'm hacking into the security cameras right now, alright I'm in…Felicity you're up"

"If he does anything bad, tell me and I'll get you out of there"

Making a noise to let them both know she heard them, Felicity focused on the main task ahead. Little did she know that this would become more difficult than she had originally expected.

"Martini and one for the lady" a voice made her turn her attention to the man coming to stand on her right. Leaning up with his back up against the bar, his attention was fully on her. Well she had gotten his interest, now for the next step.

Giving him a smile, she guided her attention to the fruity cocktail that had just been placed in front of her.

"Thanks"

"Richard Jones" he leaned in and lowered his head to her ear, to whisper to her.

"Jessica Samuels" she replied after a few seconds.

"Well Jessica how would you like to have a little fun tonight?" turning her gaze to him, locking eye contact. She softened her features and tilted her head slightly.

"And what would you have in mind, Mr. Jones?" that seemed to have him hooked.

"Why don't you let me worry about that Ms. Samuels…if I may?" he held out his hand. Giving it a glance, she placed her hand gentle into his. His fingers caged around her own.

"And I wonder why that is…got something to hide?" she heard both Digg and Roy's sharp intake of breath but it didn't put her off.

"Not that I know off, do you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" he seemed intrigued by her, good then her act was working.

"Would you like to dance?"

"And here I thought you would never ask"

"Well we don't want that" placing a hand on her bare back, he led Felicity over to the dance floor where people were grinding up against each other. Great, this wasn't going to awkward at all.

* * *

"Thea I thought you weren't a fan of this place?"

"Yeah well I thought you said you weren't a fan on alcohol?"

"Alcohol's the only thing getting me through this night" Oliver muttered under his breath.

Making his way straight over to the bar, Oliver looked to the dance floor at the various women allowing their dance partner to grind himself up against them. When he was younger he used to be in awe at so many beautiful women but now it just made him nauseous that he used to think that way.

"OMG Roy?" He heard Thea cry out, he scanned the crowd for the boy that usually wore a red hoodie and if he didn't know him then he wouldn't have recognised him in the suit. His line of sight seemed to be on the couple on the dance floor, and on a certain woman being grinded up against by the man dancing beside her. She wore a short black cocktail dress that ended just above her knees, held up by a shoulder strap. Her curly, copper-coloured hair cascaded down over her shoulders, framing her face. When she turned she revealed the dress was backless. The outfit was finished up by a pair of cute black pumps that had a load of rhinestones littered over them, making them sparkle when they were caught by the spotlights. Her makeup was simple yet elegant.

She looked so familiar yet he couldn't place it. But when his mind suddenly put the woman and Roy not taking his eyes off her, but not in the way the way he normally looked at other women with. Looking over at the woman again, the spotlight beamed on her for a second but that was all he needed to put two and two together.

Oh she was going to get it good.

* * *

"Oh shit, Digg we have a problem…guess who just walked in"

"Oh god now we're in deep trouble, do you still have eyes on Felicity?"

"Yes…uh Digg you're up, incoming girlfriend and very pissed off brother"

"Roy, what are you doing here?" Thea pulled him in for a very tight hug.

"Oh you know, looking around…seeing how many people fall off the dance floor, it's actually quite funny"

"Thea why don't you go buy yourself a drink, I just want to talk to Roy for a sec" if looks could kill, Roy would be long dead by now.

"Try not to kill each other"

"We'll try" when she was out of earshot, Oliver turned to Roy and switched to Arrow mode- as Felicity liked to call it, "What the hell are you doing here…you're on a mission aren't you?" Exhaling deeply, Roy confessed because he knew that he would end up dead if he didn't.

"What would you do if I said yes to that?"

"Please don't tell me you're here for that drug dealer guy" he began looking around the room, "Hold on, is that Felicity?" Roy knew he shouldn't have been looking directly at her, now he just gave her position away. "What the hell is she doing with him?!" he made towards the dance floor but Roy grabbed hold of his arm and hauled him back to his original position again.

"Oliver don't, you'll give her position away…she knows what she's doing alright"

"Is Digg on comms?" without even waiting for an answer, Oliver snatched the ear piece which caused Roy pain but he managed to hide it.

"Digg…what the hell is going on here?"

"Oliver, listen to me…stay calm, we've got her under surveillance…Roy's keeping an eye on her from the room and now you are too and I've hacked into the security cameras, she's good"

"Why _on Earth _did you let her do this in the first place?"

"Like Roy said, she knows what she's doing…this is her call Oliver, she's got it under control"

* * *

"How would you like to go somewhere more private?" they heard him whisper in the other ear, that was ear piece free.

The look on Oliver's face was murderous and Digg was recording every second of it for later purposes he knew would come in handy.

"Lead the way" when Felicity's response sounded through the comms Roy swore he heard Oliver's muscles contract, ready for a fight. This wasn't good.

When the drug dealer placed his hand on Felicity's lower back, inching closer and closer to her ass, Oliver clenched his hands into tight fists to control his rage towards that bastard. Turning to Roy, he still wore that look on his face that he had when he was about to kill someone. Uh oh.

"If anything goes wrong, neither one of you are stopping me"

"If anything goes wrong, I would gladly hold the bastard still while you beat the crap out of him" Roy stated and Digg made a noise of agreement, all three men were on the same page.

* * *

She kept her body nice and calm, if she was tense and nervous then the drug lord would immediately sense it.

To be honest she hated where his hand was, it had lowered considerably since the dance and now was resting just above her ass. All she wanted to do was turn and punch him in the face from his rudeness towards her, but she knew she couldn't because it would blow her cover.

"Just in here" as they made their way towards his office, Felicity took note of the guards that they passed by.

As soon as they turned the corner, he had her pushed up against the wall. His mouth was attacking hers, streaming heavy kisses across her jaw and down her throat. His hands were currently holding her tightly up against him, not leaving any gaps between them.

After she was sure that he wasn't paying her any attention she reached in her bra, where she had cleverly hidden the drug to knock the guys out, she ran her hands over his body and jabbed him with the dart but at the exact same time she felt a pinch on her thigh.

"What the hell…" he trailed off as he fell to the floor.

"Woops, my bad" she then heard all three men's relieved sigh.

"He out?" Digg's voice came through.

"Yep and I'm planting the bug…Digg you're up"

"Felicity, get out of there right now" Oliver said.

"Alright don't get your hoodie in a twist" both Digg and Roy snorted before they could anything to stop themselves.

Felicity began to feel weird, looking down she couldn't help the sharp intake of breath that followed.

"Felicity? What is it?"

No, no, no this wasn't happening, he couldn't have drugged her. Pulling herself together, Felicity tried keeping her breathing in steady breaths.

In, beat, out and repeat but nothing managed to calm her erratic heartbeat. Looking down, hanging out the side of her left thigh was a syringe that had a quarter left of the liquid inside. She felt her entire body freeze out of fear.

"Felicity…I'm coming in" his voice gave her a mental slap across the face that got her attention back to the mission and back to her current situation.

"No! I'm alright…he's knocked out; he just grabbed my ankle in his sleep that's all" she lied.

Pulling the syringe out of her leg, Felicity placed it carefully in her clutch that she had forgotten all about.

Over the years she's been working with Oliver and the team, she's improved at lying and she even convinced herself that it was the truth. She really didn't need someone fussing over her if she was drugged and besides none of them would let her leave the lair if she was, afraid that she'd collapse and something bad would happen.

It might not be the drug that was now in her system, he could be something else, she wasn't sure and she didn't have any evidence. All she needed was to keep herself calm right now but that had to wait until after she'd gotten herself out of harm's way. She made her way to the door.

Remembering that they were eight guards standing post outside his office and down the hall leading back to the main part of the club, she put on her drunken act.

Stumbling her way past the door, she threw her body in the direction of the second guard and pretend to slur out about how he had had too many drinks and was passed out on the floor, she threw in a drunken giggle at the end and the guards ran into the room as she made her way back down the hallway and to the club.

When she was out of sight from the guards, the drunken act was no longer needed.

"I never thought that would actually work, huh, suckers"

"Felicity where are you?"

"Coming down the hallway back to the club, I think I'll be near the bar if I've got my bearings right and I probably have"

"You're not out of harm's way yet Felicity"

"Stop being a downer _Oliver_" she wasn't quite sure why she said his name like that but honestly, she didn't care.

She wanted to get out of this club right now and never look back.

She saw Oliver standing near the bar scanning the club for any sign of her. Coming up behind him, she prodded him in the shoulder which in turn made him jump slightly until he caught sight of her.

"Why'd you prod me?" he asked to her smirking face when she saw how much she'd made him jump.

"I dared myself to see if I could scare you, I thought you had ninja senses" she mused with a grin plastered all over her face.

"Oh ha ha, very funny…can we go now?"

"Wait, where's Roy?"

"Thea"

"Gotcha"

"Right, we're leaving _right now_" his arm came round right round her waist and settled on the side of her stomach.

"Grouchy much?"

"Well can you blame me when I find out that my friends have gone _behind my back _on some stupid mission and you've risked your life, you know he could've drugged you like his other victims" during his little speech his arm, that was locked around her waist and that was fastening her to him, had gotten tighter.

"You risk your life on missions all the goddamn time and now it was my turn and before you say anything, do I have to remind you that because it's _my life _and _my choice_, so deal with it"

They were walking down the alleyway towards the van that Digg was located in throughout the duration of the mission with Oliver's arm still attaching her to him.

Suddenly she felt very light-headed and the entire world began to spin. Her arm, that wasn't sandwiched between her and Oliver and wasn't holding onto her clutch, shot out to keep herself steady on her feet.

This sparked concern in Oliver instantly.

"Felicity? You alright?"

"Not sure, everything's spinning" she closed her eyes and tried to will the pain away.

"What happened in there?"

"He was drunk so I think he was harder than necessary" she knew she shouldn't be lying to him right now but she couldn't deal the extra security in that moment.

"Here put your arm around my neck" she did as he suggested and he immediately scooped her up into his arms and carried her the rest of the way towards the van. Climbing in, he settled her on his lap as she laid her head on his shoulder and turning her face into the crock of his neck.

Here we go.

"Felicity, you alright?" Digg glanced in the mirror to the pair in the back.

"Yeah I think some rest is seriously needed, that's all"

"Oh believe me; you'll be resting for a while if I have anything to say about it"

"That's nice" Felicity's head began getting lighter, this couldn't be good.

"Felicity?" Oliver's concerned voice echoed around in her head.

Opening her eyes, she tilted her head up to lock eye contact with him. She was losing the battle and she knew that.

Might as well get it over with.

Reaching over to her clutch, Felicity pulled out the one-quarter-full syringe and passed it to Oliver, whose eyes widened as soon as saw the colour of the liquid. His hand clenched around the syringe and she swore he was going to crush it in his hand right here, right now.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" his voice came out harsh but his eyes gave him away.

"Too much worry…from everyone…couldn't deal…" her sentence trailed off as a wave of exhaustion hit her. Cuddling closer to Oliver, Felicity's eyes shut of their own accord.

"Felicity! Open your eyes, you have to stay awake!" Felicity knew that but in that moment, her body felt like it was so heavy, as did her eyes. "No, no, no…Felicity!"

She remembered snippets of what happened after, Oliver roaring at Digg to drive faster to the club, clambering out the back with her cradled in his arms, laying her on the med-bay, connecting her up to all the machines then nothing.

* * *

_When she opened her eyes, everything felt strange. What the hell is going on? _

_"Felicity" somebody was saying her name in a sing-songy voice. When her eyes focused on the thing, no scratch that, person above her…she was a loss for words._

_"Tommy?" she stuttered out. _

_He smiled at her._

* * *

"Digg what the hell was in that syringe?" Oliver didn't know what to do, so he took possession of her left hand, encasing it in his large one.

"Oh shit…" Digg muttered so Oliver couldn't hear him.

"What is it?"

Turning to Oliver, Digg stepped aside so he had a free view of the computer monitor with the liquid on screen. No, no, no.

"No!" he turned his attention to the sleeping I.T girl currently lying unconscious on the med-bay under the influence of 'The Sleeper', the drug they had been trying to stop people being injected by. "Felicity! Wake up! Please…please Felicity, open your eyes!" Oliver tried again to wake her but to no avail. There hasn't been _one _victim that has survived being dosed with the drug.

The drug shut the body down but the brain was still very much active, so it was like the victim was dreaming…but couldn't wake up unless they wanted to. All the victims that had been dosed had been killed soon after being dosed with the drug, never even knowing what hit them until it was too late to stop it from taking over their system.

"Oliver…" Digg began, he wasn't sure if was going to be able to say this to him but he had to know, "…Oliver there's a good chance that she's not going to be waking up" Digg was struggling to rein in the tears that were gathering, threatening to fall.

"NO! Sh-sh-she…can't…she can't die…I can't…" Oliver collapsed onto the floor.

Right now he could only watch Felicity fight a battle, she didn't even know she was fighting, for her life and the worst part was that he couldn't do anything to help her through it. In all those years, the shipwreck, the island, Slade…he had never felt as afraid as he did right now because he was being threatened with a nightmare. A life without Felicity Smoak.

He was as good as dead.

* * *

_"Tommy?" she couldn't believe it. There was no way he was leaning over her right now, she was dreaming._

_"Sorry Felicity but I need you to concentrate right now" he seemed focused on something but she didn't know what it was._

_"You're dead…I heard you die…Oliver…he…how?" Felicity trailed off, not believing that the very _late _Tommy Merlyn was currently having a conversation with her right now. What happened to her?_

_"Look we don't have a lot of time right now…but right now you're under the influence of 'The Sleeper' drug that you were trying to stop from being injected into several other victims of Starling and if you don't wake up soon…then you're going to be joining them, you need to wake up"_

_"Tommy, what are you talking about?" _

_What kind of a dream was this? _

_"Felicity…listen to me…you can't leave him or Digg behind, they need you…Oliver can't lose the one person that holds both his worlds together, or he's going to completely lose it"_

_"Oliver…me…his glue…no Tommy you've got it all wrong, I'm not the woman he loves Laurel is…I'm just tech support"_

_"Wow and I thought you were supposed to be the smart one…he really must've messed with your head hasn't he?" _

_"Tommy what the hell are you talking about?" this caused him to roll his eyes at her and groan._

_"Slade, the mansion…you do realise that Oliver sucks at lying right?" she froze, well this just got awkward._

_"Wha-" she couldn't find the words, for once in her life…she was speechless._

_"Did you really think he didn't love you?"_

_"Tommy…please don't go there…I've spent ages trying to get over the whole mansion-Slade thing and erase it from my memory" _

_"Fine…if he doesn't love you then explain that to me" he motioned behind her with his hand. Swivelling her body, which was still in her original position on the floor, round to see what Tommy was pointing. _

_When she saw what he was referring to, she felt like she'd been socked in the gut. _

_Oliver was on the floor with his back leant right up against the wall, tears freely streaming down his face. He was making no move to control his emotions, that wasn't something she saw him normally do. His gaze was fused onto the med-bay where her body currently laid, motionless. _

_Was Tommy telling the truth?_

_"Oh Oliver" it broke her heart seeing him like this. Turning to Digg, who was standing there with his fists up against his mouth, that wasn't something he normally did either. In fact, she had never seen him like this before. They looked distraught over what was happening. _

_Directing her line of sight to the med-bay, her breath hitched in her throat. She looked so broken, so vulnerable, so helpless, and defenceless just lying there. She now knew what was happening. She was dying. _

_If she didn't wake up soon, she would be joining those victims that had suffered through this same exact experience. _

_"Guys?!" Felicity heard Roy's voice come from the top of the stairs. _

_Upon entering, she saw how he looked over to both Digg and Oliver, sharing a look with Digg before guiding his gaze to the body on the table. "No, god please no…she's not" she watched as his face screwed up. "NO!" Roy screamed as the mirakuru still left in him stoked a fire within him, he stormed over to one of the nearby desks and flipped it over. _

_Looking round the lair, Felicity saw Tommy sitting in one of the vacant computer chairs standing stationary behind the weapons desk. _

_"Now you know…Felicity this is how much you mean to all of them" Tommy glanced over again at Oliver, the fight had completely left him, leaving him empty and broken. _

_"I didn't…I didn't know" _

* * *

The lair was completely silent.

This wasn't supposed to be happening. This _couldn't _happen! She was supposed to be safe; he was supposed to protect her! He promised himself he would protect her and look what he failed to do.

He didn't have the strength to hold it back anymore, the tears were stinging his eyes and the dam finally broke.

Tears trailed down his face and in that moment he didn't care if he looked weak or pathetic, he couldn't exist without her. She was his rock. The one thing that he could fall back on when times got too tough for him to bear alone. She always had his back, and the one thing that he supposed to do…he failed her.

He had failed Felicity Smoak and now the death of his girl would be on him.

His control was slowly withering away. Forcing himself onto his feet, Oliver made his way over to her too still, too silent body and gathered her form into his arms and returned to original position.

Holding her close to him, his sob wracked both their bodies. Burrowing his face deep into her neck, his senses were flooded by her scent.

Lavender.

The body wash he had bought her once for her birthday because he wasn't sure on what to get her, so he complied with a complete bathroom set for her.

Strawberries and cream.

He could taste her shampoo. It was his favourite along with the peaches and apricot shampoo.

Oliver had believed that by keeping her at arms distance would protect her and would protect him from allowing his feelings for her to swamp him. He hated every second of it, pushing her away. Yet at the time it seemed like the right thing to do.

When he had said those three words to her in the mansion, he was telling the truth every second. Who was he kidding; he couldn't lie to save his life.

* * *

_Felicity hated the fact that she was causing them all so much pain but what was really a knife to the gut was how Oliver was now cradling her against him, rocking them both back and forth. _

_"I know how you feel…when I…left him behind, it hurt so much having to watch as he fled back to Lian Yu…how much it just took a part of him away…thank you by the way, for giving him something to focus on…something to ground himself" _

_"It wasn't just me, Digg's part of the team"_

_"You really don't get it do you?" she seemed confused by this so he continued "He used you to give himself something to fight for, something to _live _for…without you, he would've probably turned on Slade with nothing but vengeance and anger but you taught him to see with another light…so thank you for that"_

_"I would've done anything for him that he asked of me"_

_"Felicity" he placed both hands on her shoulders and turned her towards him "He needs you, now more than ever, they all do…so I think it's time you woke up and went home… just do me a favour…don't forget me"_

_"Tommy…it's you who I should be thanking not the other way around…and besides do you really think the world is going to forget Thomas Merlyn? That is officially _impossible _to do" _

_"I see what he sees in you…you really are unique…never lose sight of that, and you'll do okay" he took a deep breath, "Felicity…look after him for me, and tell him I love him, he's always been my brother" _

_"Thank you Tommy" Felicity threw her arms around his neck and he embraced her in a tight hug, she leant towards his ear and whispered, "I promise" which made Tommy bury his face in her neck. _

_"Never change, the world needs more Felicity Smoak's to brighten it up..." Tommy whispered back. Felicity felt herself begin to feel as light as a feather and before she closed her eyes, she heard Tommy whisper 'thank you'. _

* * *

He wasn't sure how long he had spent, crying into her neck but he didn't care. He couldn't lose this woman from his life. Just when another round of sobs ended, Oliver felt a gentle beat thumping away. He froze. Was she? Could she?

Pulling back from her some, so he could see her face, which was currently resting against his shoulder, Oliver studied her for any sign of movement.

* * *

She felt like she had just been asleep for centuries. Was she in a fairy tale now?

Her eyes opened a smidge. Things were too blurry. She felt, what she thought was, the ground beneath her body slowly rise and fall deeply.

A groan escaped her throat and was replied with "Felicity?" That got her to open her eyes more to reveal two deep blue orbs staring at her. Without hesitation, she knew who they belonged to.

"Ol'ver-" her throat was dry as a bone, making it harder for her to speak so her speech slurred together.

"Felicity!" suddenly she being pulled in for a tight embrace. Eyes fluttering open completely, she blinked before everything finally went back to normal once again.

"You're awake!" more voices came from behind her but Oliver's strong arms were holding her in place, so she couldn't turn to the following voices.

When he finally released her, Felicity saw Digg and Roy kneeling in front of her. Then everything was moving again.

A straw met her chapped lips, glancing up he held a glass of water for her. The cool liquid refreshed her throat, bringing a sense of relief to her parched throat.

Wetting her lips, Felicity glanced around the room. She was in the lair. Wait, had she actually seen Tommy or was she just hallucinating like Oliver had done a while back.

"How do you feel?" Digg's voice got her attention. Right she hadn't said a word yet.

"Weird…tired" her voice sounded different but you couldn't really expect anything else from the length of time she's been sleeping for…speaking of which. "How long have I been out?"

"18 hours" Roy supplied.

She was still lying in Oliver's lap, on the floor. Well this is an interesting experience, I'll tell you that.

"Honestly, I think I just want to go to sleep properly this time…huh, I'm still tired and I've been out for 18 hours"

"Don't worry its normal…but for now, let's get you to bed" she gave Digg a quick smile.

"Thank you…all three of you" she was finding it difficult to keep her eyes properly open.

When she tried to slip out of his lap, his grip on her just tightened all the more. Cradling her against his chest, he rose to his feet.

"I've got you" Oliver's voice didn't sound the same either.

"Oliver I think I can manage to get myself back home on my own"

"I've got you" he repeated, masking his features like he always did with her. Ever since the whole Slade incident, Oliver had been weirder around her. Not acting like his usual self, this was both a blessing and a curse.

Saying goodnight to both Digg and Roy, Oliver carried Felicity out of the lair and over to his car, bridal style.

* * *

Oliver had been silent the entire drive home. She had her attention to the buildings and streets passing her window. His hand reaching over to clutch her left hand broke her out of her reverie.

Looking over at him, his eyes were fixed on the road. Sighing, this was going to be a long trip to her house.

When he had parked up in her driveway, Felicity went to open the door but he got there before she could. She didn't even notice him exiting the driver's side of the car. Bloody ninja skills.

Oliver carried her to her bedroom in absolute and complete silence. _It was agonising_.

"Thanks but I think I got it from here" he had covered her with her duvet and fluffed her pillows for her.

"I'll take the couch" he just continued to act weird.

"Really I got it"

"Felicity just don't" he had that warning tone in his voice but she wasn't giving up so lightly.

"Oliver what's up with you? You haven't been acting like yourself since-"

"Since you almost got yourself killed? Since you almost ended up another victim of that bloody drug? Since I almost lost you from my life"

"Since I woke up" Felicity clarified. "Is that why you're pissed at me? Because I went out in the field without you knowing?"

"Dammit Felicity…you could've been killed today and you're just going to pass it off like nothing major happened?" he began pacing the room. "Felicity I don't think you know exactly what you did tonight"

"Oliver…just…stop, you don't get to say that because if you haven't noticed this is exactly what you do everything single night…go on missions, put your life on the line, almost get yourself killed...at least I didn't flat line on that blasted table!"

"I COULD'VE LOST YOU!" that got her to shut up, "you just collapsed in my arms in the back of the car…when I saw you on that table, completely motionless…_I couldn't breathe Felicity _because I didn't even know if I was going to even see you open your eyes again…so yeah I'm mad at you for everything that happened to you over the 19 hours! But the worst part was knowing that there was that possibility for me to lose you from my life and that scared the shit out of me alright!"

"Now you know how I feel every single time you put that hood on and go out on one of your missions" she countered but her gaze was fixed on the wall ahead of her.

"Felicity what the hell is wrong with you!"

"I SAW TOMMY ALRIGHT!" her breathing became laboured and she felt she was about to have a heart attack.

"What?" his voice was small and timid. Closing her eyes and throwing her head back, making a gentle thud, she began to think maybe she shouldn't have said anything at all. But now she had gone and told him. "Felicity…what, do you mean?"

"At first I didn't know what the hell was happening to me…everything felt like it was happening from above the surface and I was the one drowning…but when I opened my eyes, I saw Tommy leaning over me and looking straight at me…he told me that I was under the influence of the drug and if I didn't wake up then I would be the next victim to turn up dead…he showed me some things in my life and where I stand with them…told me to tell you that he always loved you and considered you his brother…and not to forget him" when she opened her eyes, she saw tears brimming in the corners of his eyes.

She hated herself for telling him that.

But as he just stared at her, something inside her snapped and all of sudden she was throwing back the covers and running from the room and from Oliver, she wasn't sure where the burst of speed came from but she wasn't going to stop and question it.

Not sure where she was planning on going at midnight, Felicity ran from her house, leaving Oliver behind her probably still stunned, and just ran.

The entire time, she hadn't seemed to notice that instead of her work clothes, she was wearing an extra pair of clothes she had packed in case of emergencies. Her tank top, yoga pants and white and purple trainers.

"FELICITY!" she could hear him behind her but her body seemed to know where it was taking her.

She wasn't sure _why _she was running away from _Oliver_, he'd done nothing wrong but it didn't seem to faze her as she continued running.

She'd never thought that she would be so grateful for trying out for the cross country team in high school ever in her life, but as she ran through the park all she could think about was not stopping.

The streets were empty, everyone tucked up in bed asleep but not her.

Maybe she was just trying to run away from all the awkwardness of what had happened with Slade, partnering it up there with Russia and the 'I think it's best to not be with somebody that I could really care about' bullshit speech.

Maybe she was just trying to run away from every problem she had kept bottled up inside her for ages or was it the fact that she had just been through something that she wasn't even sure happened. She could've been dreaming the entire thing up but something told her it _was _real, that is _did _happen but she wasn't sure.

Felicity was so mind-whirled that she didn't hear Oliver's rapidly incoming footsteps or the fact that she had made the mistake of slowing her pace down a tad, giving him the opportunity to catch up with her.

His arms snaked around her waist and he lifted her feet clear off the ground.

"Let me go!" she attempted to wriggle her way out of his grasp but it was no use, he was too strong.

"No, not happening…I've been letting you go for far too long" he held her solidly against his own body until she finally stopped trying to escape him, then he loosened up his grip but never made any move to let her go. "Felicity, where are you going?" shutting her eyes up tight, she muttered.

"I don't know…anywhere but here"

"Felicity if I put you down now, will you promise me you won't run off again?"

"What's the point if you're going to just catch me anyway?"

"Jesus Christ you're fast and hard to catch" he stated, putting her back on her feet again. They both sat down on a nearby bench with Felicity facing forwards and Oliver facing her.

"That's the point of running _away _from something, you don't intend for them to catch up with you"

"Why are you running?"

"I'm just sick and tired of all this goddamn awkwardness buzzing around ever since Slade, that's why alright"

"Did you mean it?"

"Mean what?"

"Tommy" at his name, she froze, ignoring eye contact with Oliver. Getting to her feet, she walked forwards a bit before turning to him, her arms wrapping round herself like a shield. This didn't go unnoticed.

"Honestly I don't even know if it actually happened or if I'm just going insane" by this point, she had her back turned to him and was now facing the moon out over the lake, reflecting off the water.

What she didn't expect was for him to walk up behind her and once again wrap his arms round her waist, pulling her back into him.

Leaning down to whisper in her ear, she couldn't help the shudder that ran through her.

"I believe you and thank you"

"For what?"

"Reminding me of the things that count…Felicity, I love you" she tried to spin round but he wouldn't let her, so instead she just tried to put as much distance between him and her as she could.

"Don't say that"

"Why not, it's the truth…Felicity, I wasn't lying then…I love you and I have loved you for a really long time, I just wouldn't let myself admit it in fear you might be hurt because of me" he erased the small distance she had tried to put between them, fusing their bodies together.

Just when she thought things couldn't get any more interesting, he spun her round and pulled her into him, seeking her lips out with his own.

That, she hadn't expected.

The original idea of a _gentle _kiss turned into a deep and passionate one when she had wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in closer to her.

It was official, he was addicted to Felicity Smoak and now that he had kissed her once, he wouldn't be able to stop. Pulling away from her, he gained his voice even though it was breathy.

"How about we go back home" she felt her heart twang at his choice of wording.

Not able to find the words, she just settled for nodding her head. With that he scooped her up in his arms and carried her back towards her house.

As Oliver carried her back down the path, Felicity turned her head over his shoulder. Something she didn't realise was that if he hadn't of caught her; she would've been heading straight into the cemetery.

She wasn't sure if she was going insane but she swore she saw the figure of a man, that looked suspiciously identical to Tommy, leant up against the main gate of the cemetery. In that moment Felicity was certain that she would never be able to forget Tommy and what he had done for her.

* * *

So five years later when Felicity Queen gives birth to Oliver Queen's son, Thomas Robert Queen, and lying in that hospital bed with her husband asleep beside her and her son nestled against her chest, she smiles at the memory of when _'Uncle Tommy had rescued the damsel in distress' _as she would tell her son the story in years to come.

Little does she know, Tommy is smiling down at his best friend's beginnings of a new family.


	8. Changing POV

**So shoutout to ChaiGrl for the prompt for this trope, hope you enjoy reading this one. It'll be cool if it really did happen in the show though. As always please _review_ and send it any prompts and I'll give you a shoutout. **

"How do you think he's going to take it when he wakes up?"

"I'm not sure how he or anyone for that matter can react positively to this"

Felicity, Digg and Roy were all standing around the med-bay where an unconscious Oliver currently laid. It was supposed to be a simple mission but then someone decided to surprise a certain vigilante with some sort of chemical and if Roy hadn't have been nearby then he probably would've gotten away with something else.

A low groaning brought the team's attention to the waking man on the table.

* * *

He felt like he'd been the victim of a stampede. Digg's voice filled his head. Groaning, his eyes slowly opened but everything was pitch-black. _What the hell?_

"Who turned off the lights?" his question was answered by the silence but thanks to his training he could sense his team around him.

"What can you remember?" part of him relaxed when he heard her voice but was then replaced by tension when he heard the hesitation hidden in her words. Closing his eyes, he tried to recall the memories of their last mission.

"We were at an abandoned building…someone surprised me and sprayed me with some sort of chemical…Roy knocked him out…then I woke up here…why what happened?"

He heard her sigh before answering him, which wasn't a good sign at all.

"Felicity…tell me"

"You remembered most of what happened…but after Roy knocked him out, you were unconscious…he brought you back here and we checked what the man had sprayed you with and the results weren't too good. If you get the chemical anywhere near your eyes then it gives the person temporary blindness for 48 hours…you been asleep for 4 hours since you were sprayed with it, so it'll wear off in about 44 hours"

Oliver was sure everything just stopped. _What now?_

"…no…I-I can't be blind, I need to be out there protecting my city…not stuck in here"

"Oliver if you don't then it'll just become even worse"

His response was to throw his head back onto the table will a dull thud.

"So now what?"

"We're going to take care of the city until you're back on your feet…but someone's going to be on-hand if you need them" with that the lair returned to the empty silence once again.

"You okay?" her hand came up to cradle his cheek, he turned into her warmth radiating off her. "Hey it's going to be alright…trust me"

Trailing her arm back up to her body, he wrapped his arms round her waist and pulled himself to her and further into her embrace. Without hesitation Felicity pulled him closer to her.

"I'll always trust you…" his face burrowed into her stomach "…can I stay with you?" taking how she didn't seem to freeze or tense up, she took the thought of him in her house pretty well.

"Sure" his body sagged in relief. "Let me know when you want to head out"

"Thank you Felicity"

"I'm always here when you need me"

And she was.

* * *

Later that night she guided him through her townhouse towards the bedroom. If he could see her face in that moment with the implication that he was going to be sleeping in her bed, in her house then she would've been bright red.

They came up with a way of her guiding him but in a kind of subtle way. When they were walking, he took possession of her left arm, just above her elbow.

"Here you go…bed's right in front of you…let me know if you need anything"

Honestly, Felicity's never really known Oliver to be _that _quiet.

"Thank you _again_…um…Felicity? Would you be able to sleep with me…I mean not _with _me…just beside me, if you can…it's just I don't think I want to be alone tonight…" Oliver trailed off when he heard Felicity failing at trying to hide her giggles. "What?"

"I thought you didn't ramble when you got nervous?"

"How do you never fail to make me smile?" he had a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Part of my natural charm I suppose"

"I think it's just you in general"

That night he didn't need his sight to know how lucky he was to fall asleep beside Felicity but it wasn't the only time, the next night they spent wrapped in each other's embrace.

* * *

When dawn broke, Oliver opened his eyes and was met by the most breath taking sight he had ever seen. The sun was streaming in through the windows, lighting up the room while Felicity was sprawled out over his chest, her golden blonde locks spread out across his chest.

When he and Thea were kids, she used to believe in Father Christmas, Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny and his mother had told him that that was the most magical years in a person's life but he didn't seem to understand that until now.

This, being here right now with Felicity was all the magic he needed in his life and that's all he ever wanted. To wake up every single day of his life with this remarkable woman by his side. He could feel her slowly stirring. Her eyes fluttered open, brilliant blue orbs greeted him.

"Morning"

"Morning"

"How you feeling?"

"Better than ever"

"I'm glad"

"Me too"

* * *

It's a little ironic if you think about it since it took him losing his sight to see what he was missing out on in his life.

**Leave me a review and tell me what you think.  
**


	9. One Sound Can Change An Entire LIfe

**I know I uploaded a chapter yesturday but I just decided screw it so here ya go. Hope you have fun reading this and _thank __you _for all the awesome reviews on my last update. As always please _review _and tell me what you think, they always give me something to look forward to when writing these. Btw _can't wait __for season 3 _OLICITY IS FINALLY HERE FOR THE WORLD TO SEE! :D XXXXX**

They say that one sound can change your entire life right before your very eyes. Well they're right.

Looking back on the events that had taken place, how could he have been so stupid? No scratch that, how can _she _have been so stupid?

* * *

That night they had been gathering evidence on a man to bring him and his filthy plans to justice. However, the catch was that they had to bring Felicity along with them because only she could gain access to the security system that held all the evidence so it had put them all on their toes.

Just when they thought everywhere was secure, several men came running from every direction so naturally they had all formed somewhat of a protective circle around Felicity, who hid under a nearby desk while uploading the necessary information onto a device she had designed for this type of situation then proceeded to upload it to the lair's secure severs.

Another man caught the corner of her eye. He snuck up beyond Oliver's line of sight. Felicity felt her heart begin to steadily increase until it felt like it was going to thud right out of her chest. Adrenaline flooded her veins and pumped hard throughout her body.

Her vision tunnelled straight to the man with the gun cocked and ready to blow on Oliver's unsuspected back.

Reaching out blindly, her hand wrapped around one of the pair of her heels she had ditched when she hid beneath the table.

Her next set of actions happened in one fluid motion.

Ducking out beneath the table, Felicity lobbed her heel towards the man's head. Perfect shot. It hit him square in the face, knocking him out of the killing-Oliver mode.

If she hadn't been so focused on the unexpected bastard with the gun, Felicity would've seen how the rest of the team's gazes seemed to follow her heel in mid-air and how it hit the man directly in the face or how they screamed out 'NO!' or how Oliver looked like he'd just seen a ghost and his body seemed to coil beneath his costume.

But her movements didn't falter as she full on sprinted towards the man and speared him in the gut but not before the sound of the gun going off echoed around the room. She felt nothing but rage at the thought of someone shooting Oliver, the one she loved the most but he never knew because he would never feel the same way about her, in the back. At that point, she didn't care if she took the bullet or if her entire being ceased to exist, _nobody _hurts Oliver on her watch.

They eventually stopped rolling and he tried once again to hurt someone, _anyone _that went against him and unfortunately for him that person was Felicity. Rolling on top of her, he raised his fist expecting to bring it down on her face but she beat him to the punch.

Lifting her hips, she raised both him and herself, off the ground and her hand came up, clenched into a tight fist. She wasn't quite sure where the self-defence moves came from, probably fuelled by her adrenaline.

Something she would never tell another living soul was the fact that her half-cousin in law (since he divorced her cousin, her own fault) used to teach her these types of moves except he hadn't taken the training lightly, so it was either fight and defend yourself or receive blow after blow to the face and body. But apparently it really kicked into her system like it had when she was younger. _She'd never tell him but she was always thankful for that, and the fact that he never landed any blows with his full force_.

He went with the movement of her fist so it allowed her the time to roll on top of him, wrapping her legs round his neck in the process, and flipping herself backwards, (her time as a gymnast in school really coming into play) landing him face down on the tarmac also, in effect, knocking him out. Her cousin would be proud.

That's when she felt it. A light tickle of her hand, upon looking down a drop of blood spread out across her palm. _Oh crap!_ She couldn't help the way her body seemed to tense up. His voice had snapped her out of her kick-ass mode and apparently her adrenaline was beginning to wear down.

"Felicity"

Something suddenly didn't feel right. She couldn't breathe properly.

* * *

The entire sight of Felicity kicking ass was like an electric shock to his system.

He had seen her come out from beneath the desk at the corner of her eye with a determined look in her eye and how her heel went flying across the room and landed a blow to a man he hadn't seen come up behind him. But apparently she did.

When he heard the gun go off, he swore his heart just stopped beating altogether. He hated that sound.

He wasn't sure how he felt when he witnessed the man rolling on top of her with his fist raised in the air or how Felicity hadn't even waited a second before answering back with a move of her own that he hadn't seen anyone teach her but he saw how she seemed to know exactly what to do.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye.

After she finally stood up, he hated how she seemed hesitant to turn around to face them. Surely she didn't think that they would ever judge her for something like that?

"Felicity?" from how her body tensed he knew that something wasn't right.

Her breathing seemed to escalate and when she turned to face him, he knew why. The bullet had hit her in the stomach and from the way she was attempting to gasp down breaths, it had pierced her lung.

Everything in that moment had felt like it was in slow motion. From her carefully lowering herself to the floor to him suddenly racing to her side, his limbs seemed to have a mind of their own.

From that point on everything happened in a blur, he remembered being by her side as they rushed her to the hospital, everyone changing out of their uniforms and into spare clothes in the time spent getting there. How we managed to switch clothes was a complete mystery to him but one thing he knew for sure was that everything seemed to cling onto her limp form. About ten minutes before they got to the hospital she had passed out. That's when Digg really pushed the limit on the van.

They heard the cops behind them and one of them pulled up to the window, it just so happened to be Lance, and Roy had yelled out that they had someone that had been shot in the back. It ended up as them clearing a path ahead for them all the way to the hospital.

He remembered how both Digg _and _Roy had to hold him back when they instantly took her into surgery to remove the bullet and fix up the damage.

They had to watch from window and that's where Lance had joined them. What made his whole body lose strength and cause his legs to tremble beneath his weight was when her lifeline began to drop time and time again before it sounded with a loud beep. Oliver was shaking his head in denial. _She couldn't be dead_ he repeated to himself over and over again like a mantra.

Flat lining. That would be his nightmare for the next several months. His mind erupted into fully raging arguments. One part yelling out that _it was his entire fault _and that _she shouldn't be in that room, he should_. But another part whispered _how it wasn't his fault _and _it was her choice, she didn't regret that in any way _and he _knew _that was Felicity.

Over the duration of time he had worked with her she had crept her way into every ounce of his being. His mind had her downloaded into it so whenever he got into sticky situations in missions, her voice was there guiding him back to her again.

So he clung onto that light, hoping that there was enough fight left in her to will of the dark trying to empower her.

No sounds registered to him all his attention was solely on that heart monitor connected to her chest. _Please, please fight…please come back to me…don't leave me._

* * *

The dawn of a new day broke out over the hospital.

"Urgh…I _hate _these stupid gowns, my ass is _freezing_!" her familiar voice whined. Groaning, he slowly lifted his head. The first thing he registered was a female blonde tugging at the garment wrapped around her loosely.

"Felicity! You're alive!"

"No I'm a ghost...what do you think?" it was then he realised he wasn't alone because the erupted in silent sniggers muffled behind hands.

"Yup she's awake…and _pissed_"

"How about you wear one of these things and tell me how you feel"

"Did the doctor come in yet?"

"Yes…she said she was glad you alright, everyone was routing for you…and that you can leave after you've signed out but you have to have someone keeping a constant check up on you for several hours just to make sure"

"I don't need to be sat on!" that earned another round of laughter, including Oliver this time because to be honest _who in the world _can keep a straight face with Felicity when she's like this?

So that's how they spent the rest of their afternoon, in Oliver's penthouse relaxing in the lounge with Felicity's head in Digg's lap, her butt in Oliver's (he wasn't complaining) and her feet in Sara's while Thea laid out in Roy's in one of the armchairs.

It felt so much of a relief to Oliver to finally tell her about his secret because now she was always a willing participate when it came to missions. On most days, Felicity gave her an earpiece and let her help her with guiding them and yelling at them when they came back bloodied and beaten.

The night ended with Felicity in Oliver's bed and him on the couch but it didn't take him long to switch to the bed and snuggle up to Felicity, holding her close to him in his bed with Thea and Roy sleeping in one of the guest rooms.

* * *

The next time they would be in the hospital was when Lyla gave birth to the little Digglet, as Felicity oh-so-gloriously called his kid (neither Digg nor Lyla at all minded), and they all huddled into the hospital room around the bed.

So they had a husband and wife and their new born daughter, named Allison Megan Diggle (her middle name after her loving auntie/god-mother). Also a newly engaged pair (whose fiancée really couldn't keep his hands to himself) and then a loving boyfriend and girlfriend, Felicity was the only one who knew of his plans for months to come, her job was to convince her soon-to-be husband to give his little sister away to the red-hooded kid.

Yep the next set of years were going to be pretty interesting. But every step of the way, they will always be _a team_.

**I swear to god I don't like writing about Felicity being hurt but the reason why I keep on writing these types of fanfics is because of the reaction from Oliver. I love writing about _that part _because I am literally addicted to Olicity, as you can obviously see from all the stories I write of them.****And before I forget to mention, I'm going to mainly focusing on A Change of View because it's goint to be quite a lengthly story (I think) so most of my attention is going to be on that but I'll try to keep updating Forbidden Love every so often but I just need to write the next chapter first and it really doesn't help that I'm now back at school, which sucks massively, so I promise to do what I can. **

**Thanks for reading!  
**


	10. Ephinephrine

**Thank you ChaiGrl for this prompt! Hope you like how it's turned out. Hopefully next up is a chapter of A Change of View!**

**I know I would hate for Felicity to eat something she was allergic to in the show but I've got to admit, it would be so _awesome_! Oliver would probably go _crazy _over the entire thing happening and begin wearing his 'angry face' as Felicity oh so gloriously puts it. Does anyone agree with me here or do you think I'm completely crazy for actually wanting this to actually happen and I know all of us Olicity fans would probably start WW3 if something _really bad _happened to our I.T/Girl Wednesday and if the writers do actually have something that bad happen to her, I would personally arrow them myself 3 **

**Anyways hope you enjoy! And as always please _review _because I love reading what you guys think of all my stories.**

* * *

Well wasn't this day going just great? When she had woken up that morning, she hadn't expected this to happen.

So she was at one of her other friend's birthday parties and Oliver had come as her plus one, since he said he _'had nothing better to do'_ when actually she knew him too well. Looking over to him, he had gotten himself deep into conversation with another party of guests, who liked gossiping about the Vigilante, he wasn't paying her any attention in that current moment probably too engrossed in the conversation to talk or even notice anything else.

She had been talking with her small group of female friends, who were very much like herself but not completely, they lived for shopping and men not the combination of _tech _and men.

Ever since Slade had happened the people of Starling had tried to put the events in the past and move on with their lives, if only it was that easy for her and Oliver. Since he had said those words to her, he looked at her differently like he just expected her to just vanish right before him and it annoyed her to the core at the fact that _to her _it felt like he was just watching, waiting for her to shatter. To think that he thought her so weak and that easy to break sent a knife flying straight into her gut and that look in his eye caused to the knife to be twisted in its place. So it was basically him walking on eggshells whenever he was near her.

_Thank god _Digg or Roy hadn't changed their views of her; they still looked upon her in the same light.

Felicity was over by the table where all the catering was laid out on beautiful dishes, beneath desserts that made her mouth water over. _In fact she was surprised she wasn't drooling_. Looking over at the several various choices to choose from, how was she supposed to pick just _one_?

After she had chosen the strawberry cheesecake, she felt the flavours dance on her tongue but then froze when it landed on one far too familiar for Felicity's liking.

Nuts.

Crap!

Panic set in like a shadow, flooding her body of every thought _not _to panic. Breathing deeply, breath after breath, Felicity repeated in her mind like a mantra. She could feel her heart begin to pound, the sound of her blood pumping round her body drumming through her ears.

_Come on FOCUS! Where is your __epinephrine? _She forced some sense into her mind. It was in her clutch that was on the table near her previous position but she couldn't seem to focus on anything except the panic still seeping into her and it certainly didn't help matters when one of male waiters had seemed to notice her over by the table and come up by her side, causing a small crowd to surround her. Now her heart was pounding louder for a whole new reason.

* * *

Oliver had been in a deep discussion about the Arrow when he had heard all the commotion and the birthday girl scream a familiar name that made his head snap that direction and completely freeze. His feet were moving before he even knew what was happening.

As soon as he saw her collapsed figure in a heap on the floor, red splotches masking a majority of her face, he didn't hesitate to steadily make his way to her, picking up her clutch (he knew she carried emergency epinephrine just in case something like this ever happened) before shoving people out of his way. Coming to her side he ignored the obviously nervous young male waiter and knelt down, not caring about how his Armani suit trouser looked afterwards.

Lifting up the hem of her purple cocktail dress, he carefully slid the needle into her upper thigh before placing her clutch on the floor beside his knees before cradling her cheeks guiding her gaze to his. Deep blue eyes met his as he tried to help calm her rapid pulse that he could feel on her pulse point on her wrist which was both wrapped about each of his wrists. They had locked eye contact but a part of her brain registered Rachelle yelling for someone to call 911.

Part of him wanted to demand who served the cake with the nuts in when they were supposed to know that Felicity was allergic, aren't they supposed to be aware of any allergies in the parties attending? However, he knew it would only make Felicity panic more and he didn't really want to leave her side in that moment so he remained on the seat beside her, grasping her left hand tightly in his.

If he wasn't so focused on Felicity, he would've realised how the male waiter still had one of his hands placed low on her other leg.

It took a while for the epinephrine to finally kick in and get to work. Rachelle, the birthday girl, brought her over a glass of water. As she exhaled a sigh of relief as the cool liquid poured down her throat, relishing her scratchy throat.

"You know Liz, when you said you wanted to give me a birthday to remember, I didn't really expect you to do _this_"

"Where's the fun in that? Besides you're always telling me I've got a dramatic flair so why not use it? Livened it up a bit didn't it?"

"You will never cease to amaze me, you know that?"

"No I didn't know that from the seven thousand times you've told me" sarcasm etched over her every word.

"Take care of her, this one's special…and thank you both for coming to my party" Rachelle directed at Oliver, who hadn't released her hand from his yet.

"Yes she is and don't worry I don't plan on letting her out of my sight for a while" when Felicity groaned at his statement, both Oliver and Rachelle laughed before she parted and returned to her party guests.

Turning to Oliver, Felicity stated.

"You know I'm fine right? I can take it from here"

"But you're not…who knows what could happen in the next few hours"

"Urgh…Oliver" she whined.

"Felicity" he mimicked her tone, which landed him glares from her. Reaching into her clutch, she retrieved her Benadryl, tipping a few out onto her hand and taking the glass of water from Oliver.

* * *

Later on after she'd been checked out by the medics and given the all clear to go home, Oliver didn't give it a second thought before scooping her up in his arms and making his way to his car. Felicity knew they would probably talk about this sometime in the near future, maybe tomorrow, but she would argue the reason why she allowed Oliver to carry her was that she felt drowsy but to be completely honest _with herself at least _she just liked the feel of him carrying her.

The way she felt his muscles rippling beneath her form or the way he cradled her close to his chest, or how he stole several glances down at her with that look of passion towards her. That just made her heart melt at how she was able to make him react in such a way.

A distant part of her screamed that he was in love with her, but the majority just smothered that thought with the fact that _even if he did_, he would still push her away and would end up just getting hurt in the process. Her brain never stopped whirling around that thought as Oliver carried her up in to her bedroom, tucking her in before looking for somewhere to sit.

"Just sleep beside me I don't bite…much" with that Felicity buried her head deep into her pillow, but not before hearing the slight chuckle rumbling from his chest.

"I'll keep that in mind but for now, sleep"

"Sir Yes Sir" she mocked a salute and if she had her eyes open right then, he would probably be wearing a huge smirk.

She barely remembered what happened next but she did remember; Oliver turning into her, draping one arm across her stomach and resting his head beside hers on her pillow, and how she fell asleep to his steady breaths.

She smiled, if this is what it took to make Oliver show this level of concern towards her then she should really have an allergic reaction more often but that was a conversation to have with Digg, for now it was sleeping time.


	11. Friends or Family

**So you all know that Season 3 is coming on-screen in October so I decided to write this to pass the time. I really don't think I can take much more of the waiting. I'm desperate to find out Felicity's back story and her history and all that but something that's been on my mind since episode 2x13 when she told revealed to Oliver about her father is _who is he_? So my curiosity turned into a story, so hope you enjoy reading this one and as always _please review_. **

**Send in any prompts and I'll happily oblige with a story.  
**

* * *

Well this was just brilliant!

How? How in the world did they go and get themselves captured?

Oliver, Digg, Roy and Sara had all gone to face a new villain that had _just _come into town and ended up getting themselves caught in the process. Now it was up to her to save their asses, typical.

So here she was with one of her tech gadgets secured to her wrist beneath her oversized hoodie, whenever she needed to hide her identity she always wore it, outside the building ready to save her team mates. Remind her to give them a lecture about watching their backs better next time.

"Felicity be careful" Laurel's voice came through her ear piece reminding her that she wasn't alone. She had given Laurel a crash course on the basics she needed to know to help during the missions, tech wise.

Laurel had hacked (_but everyone knew that she was never going to be as good as Felicity was) _her way into the security system, giving her a look at where the guards were.

"I'll try my best" Felicity said through the comms before turning off her ear piece. She knew at this point, she was on her own.

Carefully moving through the building, room by room in search of her team, the guards never even knew she was there, Felicity watched every step she took being wary not to give herself away.

When she heard the distinct noise of men's voices and then someone yelling death threats _(yep there's Roy)_, she followed the sound to a big room that was practically empty, save for all the crates in the top left hand corner of the room.

The villain wore a black cloak and a mask keeping the majority of his identity a secret and the remaining members of her team were fastened in ropes against the far wall, to the side of her line of sight. Marking out an escape route already, Digg's training racing into mind, she planned her actions.

Without hesitation Felicity pulled up the sleeve of her hoodie, revealing the gadget securing to her wrist, and typed in a short string of code. Sure enough the lights in the room flickered on and off before casting the room in pitch black. The man shouted in frustration but she didn't take any interest to him, knowing he wasn't near her team was all she needed.

Moving towards the team, Felicity pulled out her hidden Swiss army knife from her boot before beginning to cut into the ropes, sure enough freeing her teams' bonds behind their backs.

"Felicity?" Oliver hissed in a low whisper, it was clear enough that he was pissed with her actions but she didn't care.

"Shut up and stay still" Felicity responded in a harsh murmur, moving onto Digg's bonds at the end of the line of team mates. She heard him growl under his breath but he obeyed her command, letting her concentrate.

When the lights began to turn on again Felicity ducked behind Digg quickly, he shifted himself to move into a position where she wasn't visible.

"Now what to do with you four…hmm…decisions, decisions…but first I'll let you have a few moments to yourselves, enjoy the remaining non-hellish moments of your lives because you'll end up wishing I would've just taken your lives" he stated before leaving the room, yelling at guards to close the doors behind him.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You could've been killed!" Oliver directed at Felicity when he was sure the place was clear.

"Oh don't get your hoodie in a twist, they didn't even see me" moving out from behind Digg, Felicity made to cut the rest of the rope trapping them but as she turned her back towards the door she was completely unaware of a certain man making his appearance into the room once again.

Before the team could warn her, a voice spoke with an all too familiar name wrapped up in its words.

"Lissy?" the name made her freeze in her tracks. The sound of her heard thudding away in her chest filled her ears.

She hadn't been called that name in ages and there was only one person who had ever called her that, but it was years ago, _two decades ago _to be exact.

"Is that you?" when the voice spoke again, it proved her guesses to be true.

She could hear his footsteps approaching her from behind and from the corner of her eye; the team's reactions were evident.

Nothing made her snap her focus back again, not the man's approaching footsteps, not her team mates calling out her name, _nothing_. It wasn't true. _Please don't let it be true. _She pleaded that she was imagining it.

The man finally reached her and turned her to face him by her shoulders, keeping a firm grip on them. By now she had her eyes closed, fighting off the fact that the man she had been dreaming about for _years _of her life was now in front of her. She didn't want this to be happening right now.

"Lissy look at me" curiosity forced her eyes open after a minute's hesitation. NO! It wasn't true!

But it was. It _was _him standing before her.

Shaking her head, Felicity tried backing away from him but he wouldn't let her, his grip remained strong on her shoulders.

If she was in full awareness of everything happening her then she would've noticed how the team had tensed up, Oliver obviously not liking how close she was to the man.

"It is you…you're _here_…with _me_" from how he sounded, he was just as affected as she was but Felicity knew that wasn't the case. No one in the history of her life would be as affected as her.

His hands released her shoulders and came up to cradle her face but she refused any close contact with _him_ so she broke out of his embrace and backed away, towards the wall to the side of the room and away from everyone else.

Her friends were wondering what on earth was going on, looking between the two people but judging from Felicity's actions of moving away from him, it wasn't good.

It was weird, what she was feeling in that moment. She felt like crying but no tears made themselves known. Fury, instead, filled all her thoughts.

"Lissy, please…I never meant to hurt you, I didn't want any of this to happen" he tried, bringing his hands up in front of his face and approaching her like you would a wild animal, trying not to spook it.

His words only served to make her fury build more and more but she reined it in.

"Please…I-" he didn't get to finish the sentence as she took a step forward, her fist soaring towards his face and landing a blow, knocking him to the floor but his instincts kept him from falling but he hunched over, hand clutching at his cheek.

This made her friends suck in a sharp breath at how angry she looked.

"_Don't…you…dare…say that you never meant to hurt me! You knew exactly what you were doing all along, no one was making you do anything…it was all you!" _her fury was spread across her face like a shadow. Both her hands were tightly clenched into fists at her sides and her knees were trembling slightly.

Apparently the man wasn't a fan of her actions and began to get irritated at her. Stepping into her personal space he began growling at her.

Now this Oliver _really _didn't like at all.

"It…wasn't…my…fault!" he ground out as he attempted to intimidate her but it clearly wasn't working as she replied, shoving him far away from her. At all, it only served to make her angrier at him.

"That is the biggest pile of bullshit I have _ever _heard!"

The entire time the team were watching on in complete shock as their I.T girl stood her ground against the cold-blooded killer who was currently acting like a high school boy who was caught doing something wrong and lied but only resulted in digging his hole deeper.

"Everything was your fault! You're the one that left; you're the one that shattered her into thousands of pieces! Do you have _any idea _how much you broke her or how much you scarred me?"

"You know perfectly well why I left!"

"No I don't! I was five! How the _hell _can you expect a five year old to understand that?"

"I did it to protect both of you"

"No. That is a downright lie. You didn't do it to protect us, you did it for yourself…because you didn't want that kind of responsibility so you did what you always do, you dumped it when the going got tough"

"Like Donna even cared for you, if you believe that then you're just plain stupid"

"Well she was something that you weren't. She was _there _in my life, no matter what happened, no matter what the road was like up ahead she never left me to fend for myself like you did. She was a parent. Sure life wasn't as most lives are but she never ditched me and in the midst of things, she taught me valuable skills that I've been using in life even up to this day"

"Well isn't she just the mother of the year then"

"_You were supposed to be my dad! Supposed to be there for me _and where were you when the bad things happened?"

"I wasn't ready for that sort of commitment"

"Well then you should've put something on the end of it then because it takes two to tango…you knew _exactly _what you were doing and could've put a stop to it any time you wanted but you _chose _not to so you had to deal with the consequences"

Now everything became clear to Oliver and the rest of the team. That man, _that villain _was Felicity's father, the one that left her and obviously Felicity wasn't happy with his decision.

"Let me change that then"

"What?" she frowned at him.

"Let's start over, pick up where we left of because face it, I'm your father and I…"

"NO! You DO NOT get to make any decisions for me, you lost that right _years ago_" Felicity full-on snarled into his face, gritting her teeth not caring about any pain it may cause her.

"I AM STILL YOUR FATHER!" he shouted into her face but it still didn't make her budge.

"No you're not because through my eyes I have no father…he died the second he walked out that door and never came back!" Felicity kept eye contact with him, no intention of backing down from the fight.

Everything and everyone went silent, save for the heavy breathing of the dick that now was on everyone's to-shoot list.

They stayed like this for what seemed like ages on end before _her father _decided to put her loyalty to the test.

In the blink of an eye he had Oliver at gunpoint, his finger twitching ever so slightly on the trigger but like she said, she had no intention of backing down so Felicity retrieved Oliver's discarded bow and arrows, pointing the arrow his direction.

"Put. It. Down" Felicity warned, gritting her teeth and tightened her grip Oliver's bow.

"You won't shoot your own father" he replied, not taking his eyes of Oliver or the gun.

Oliver and the team were looking at Felicity with wide eyes; she wouldn't shoot her own father would she?

"Really? Try me see what happens" from how her voice was laced with poison, she wasn't kidding around and he knew that.

Her team were definitely shocked to be seeing this side of her. The person who would turn on her family to protect those she loved.

To say that he was surprised by her actions would be lightly grazing the surface.

"I'm not going to tell you again…put it down on the floor and step away from it"

"You don't have the guts princess" at the name her fingers voluntarily released the arrow, sending it flying into his lower leg and by the looks of it, she hadn't missed.

"Don't call me that _ever_"

"You wouldn't turn on your own family to save those pieces of trash, you're not like that"

"You don't know shit about me and besides I would never turn on family…_you _on the other hand I have no problem with sending another arrow straight through you" she said, notching another arrow.

If you'd asked her what was going through her mind in that moment, she wouldn't know how to answer beside anger towards _that man _for abandoning her at the time she needed both him _and _her mother the most. Your childhood is always the most vulnerable period of your life so you always depend on your parents to get you through the years.

Oliver could see her fingers twitching on the second arrow, deciding whether or not it was worth another arrow.

While Felicity had the majority of the man's attention, Digg had been able to cut the remaining length of rope fastening them to the wall with the knife stored away in his boots, in case of rainy days obviously and right now, _it was pouring_.

Oliver hated himself for what he was witnessing right now because it was because of _him _that this was happening. If he hadn't have brought Felicity in upon his own selfishness of not being able to stay away from her, she was being forced to choose between _her own father _and the team of wounded soldiers.

But most of all he hated that look that was in her eyes, the expression he's been showing ever since the island happened. Everything about her then looked so guarded, so well thought out, not a single thing out of place.

Just then they heard sirens going, Laurel. Only she would call her dad and tell him about the plan.

In both last year and this year it had been one of the weirdest times for Team Arrow.

Laurel had joined the team but he was pretty sure no one wanted her there because she only got herself in trouble and was always in the way.

Lance on the other hand hadn't been surprised when he had found out the secret, joining the team also but no as a hands on kind of joining more like I'll-help-out-in-the-field-if-necessary kind of joining.

With one last look at Felicity, the villain they had been chasing disappeared into the darkness of the room but he knew they wouldn't be done with him for a long time now that he knew that his daughter was working with the Arrow.

Spinning on her heel, Felicity ran out of the room with the rest of the team following shortly behind her.

While running, she typed in the short string of code into her gadget again but this time not messing around with the lights, instead deleting the security camera footage but not before sending a copy to the lair to analyse for anything they had missed.

Oliver had grabbed his bow from Felicity's hands and couldn't help the spark of electricity that shot through his body and straight to his core but when he saw that she was completely unaffected, he grew concerned. She always reacted someway whenever they accidently touched but not then.

When they were outside, clear of any cops or guards they all turned their ear pieces on, Laurel's voice meeting them instantly.

"So how'd it go?" one by one they all cast a glance over at Felicity, who looked like she was still in shock but once again surprising them.

"Fine, I sent a version of the security footage to the severs and deleted the original copy…have fun"

"Brilliant so you're all on your way back then?"

"I'll stop by later"

"Felicity wait…" the rest of Oliver's sentence trailed off when Felicity just walked off into the distance.

He knew that her neighbourhood was near enough to their current positions but he didn't really want to be separate from her tonight, but he also knew she needed her space.

"Come on Ollie let her have her space, she'll check in later on" Sara comforted him by placing a hand on his shoulder before tugging him towards the bikes but his gaze was locked on the back of a certain blonde's head.

"What happened?" Laurel asked but received no answer _and wouldn't be for a long time. _

* * *

Oliver had just finished another series of crunches on the Salmon Ladder, stealing a quick glance over at the time on one of the monitors to the side of Laurel.

It had been an hour since the mission and Felicity _still _hadn't checked in. He knew he shouldn't be worried she's a big girl, she can take care of herself but it still didn't make matters easier on him.

When they had returned from the mission Laurel had thrown herself at him but he didn't move to return the embrace so just tightened his grip on his bow.

Ever since she had found out about him, she wouldn't stop flirting with him or touching him and to tell the truth, it was beginning to annoy him considerably. Only one woman was allowed to put her hands on him and that was certainly _not _Laurel and hadn't been for a while.

So naturally he had gone straight into working out, relieving himself of any leftover tension and to centre his thoughts on the ladder and not his girl god knows where.

Growling he dropped from the bar at the top of the ladder, where he had been hanging upside down, and grabbed his keys and jacket before exiting the lair.

* * *

She wasn't really sure what she was supposed to be thinking of right now but her thoughts wouldn't stray from the man she had revealed to be her father a few hours ago. She knew Oliver had tried to stop her from walking off on the team but then, she couldn't deal with everything swamping her so had to leave to clear her head.

It had been simple right from the beginning. She didn't have a father, just a mother but then _he _had to make an appearance and bring back all those years of terror of when people used to tease her about her lack of a father figure.

Changing into more comfortable casual clothes, Felicity once again headed out the door.

For the past two years, Felicity been finding a strange sense of comfort and freedom in jogging so whenever she had a situation that clouded her every sense, then she would go out into a vacant part of the city and just run until she could finally think again, it really helped but nobody knew about it.

So now she just listened to the beat of the music thudding through her mind and the rhythm of her feet hitting the ground below her, driving her through the park.

It was early in the morning, a couple hours from the break of dawn but apparently she wasn't the only person who was out here, the sound of a bike just squirming its way through her earphones and music.

* * *

He tried to stay calm but fear was slowly setting in and he couldn't shake it. He'd checked her house and she was nowhere to be seen but it was clear she'd been there. Thinking maybe she'd finally checked into the lair, Oliver started for the Foundry.

When he drove past the vacant park the corner of his eye saw a figure jogging, turning a good majority of his gaze towards the figure. Oliver instantly recognised her flowing blonde hair, _no longer in a ponytail_, and the frame of her body, _it's not like he spent time staring at her body through the glass walls of their QC offices_, and turned his bike down one of the main paths that would soon cross paths with the path Felicity was jogging down.

Taking the time to analysis what was happening he allowed his gaze to linger.

She had a steady pace and a good beat of her feet hitting the ground; he never knew she ran _otherwise he would've joined her ages ago_.

She was dressed in casual clothes. A black tank top hugged her chest, showing off the curves of her body and a purple pair of jogging shorts with a black stripe running up the side of the shorts, showing off her legs perfectly. The whole outfit was finished by a pair of Nike trainers matching the colours of her shorts.

He could feel drool hanging from his lower lip, shutting his mouth as he approached her it was then he realised she had earphones in with music pounding through her ears.

Anger filled him when he saw the position she had freely put herself in, anyone could easily snatch her up and she would never hear them coming.

Stopping the bike on the path, cutting her off from going any further and when he saw how red her face was he knew she'd been working herself hard.

What was going on in that beautiful brain of hers?

"What?"

"You said you'd come by the Foundry and you never did so I decided to go to your house and check in on you _but you weren't there_"

"Cut the crap Oliver, I don't need someone watching my back every single second of my life…so if you don't mind, I'm going to finish running until I end up collapsing…see you tomorrow" putting her earphones back in, she tried to pass him but Oliver wouldn't relent and wouldn't give this up.

"No….Felicity I know what you're doing and don't think for a second that you can block me this easily, you're looking at the expert of blocking people out"

"Well hey presto…now skooch"

"No" and with that he dismounted the bike and strode over to her, removing her earphones in the process. "Look I'm sorry for what you had to do tonight"

"No none of that…not everything in my life includes you so don't you dare do that _I'm-guilty-about-everything-even-though-there's-no-reason-to _things again and besides…my life, my choice so everything I did tonight I _chose _to do so that's nothing to do with you alright, that's it"

"Felicity come on, _talk to me_"

"What do you want…honestly?"

"For you to be honest with me"

"Rather not…night"

"Felicity…"

"Look the things I did today I would do again in a heartbeat _no comments on that_, so don't bother with this self-loathing crap, neither of us likes sharing about these types of things…you think I haven't noticed you tense up when someone questions the island, exactly…so just leave it there" pulling off a move that she had perfected over the years, she faked one way then dodged him by quickly moving the opposite direction and taking off at the pace she was at before he had interrupted her.

But something she didn't count on was him joining her with his bike, right beside her.

Rolling her eyes she didn't let him faze her as she just continued jogging on but this didn't seem to rest well with him.

After another five minutes like this, Felicity finally turned home.

On the way back, she increased her pace into a sprint. Speeding her breathing up slightly, they continued on for about another minute before Oliver finally snapped and reached over to sweep her right off her feet and cradle her close against him as he sped back to her house.

Even through all their clothes separating their bodies, he could still feel the rapid pounding of her heart. A sound that didn't register well with him, because it was the things revolved around that sound that he hated, _dreaded _even.

* * *

They reached her house and on the way back decided he might as well just stay the night since he'd probably stake out outside her window. She was right though, as soon as she got through her front door she collapsed onto the couch, not bothering with changing into something else.

So that night he stayed there with her the entire time, not leaving each other's sights at any point. He learned a lot when she finally opened up to him but something told him that there was something that she was hiding from him.

"I wasn't sure" her voice broke him out of his train of thought. Turning to completely face her, he frowned. "Don't give me that look…the answer to the question that's been stuck in your head the second it happened is _I'm not sure_…I don't know what I would've done" from how she was staring off into space, he figured that she was finally opening up about the real darkness of her actions.

They were sitting on the couch side-by-side watching reruns of TV series that he really wasn't paying _any _attention to but it seemed to cool the air between them.

Shifting closer to her, Oliver grasped her right hand in his and encouraged her to speak further but she wouldn't turn her gaze from the far wall.

"When I felt the bow and arrow in my hands, pointed at him…I-I don't know…a part of me said 'shoot' but at the same time another just screamed not to but what scared me was the fact that I was considering letting go of that arrow right into his chest…for all the pain that he's caused me and my mum…I remembered-I remembered when I was younger, the last time I saw him…I could hear them both arguing, shouting at each and I was sitting on the floor in the lounge with my laptop, rewiring it and he gave me that one last look for a couple seconds before he came over to me and gave me a big hug…I was tiny in his arms…" she released a sort of soft huffing sound, remembering the memory, Oliver squeezed her hand slightly "…he whispered that is wasn't my fault and then said goodbye before he left…I could see him through the window, he paused halfway down the path…like he was debating whether or not to turn back to us but then just walked and never came back…a couple minutes later I realised that he gave me something before he left, when I saw what it was I burst into tears…he gave me his mala necklace he had gotten back in the army, one of his mates had given it to him…he wore it every single day, so did I…my mum came down later on in the day and I was still looking out the window, waiting for him to come back but he didn't…she came over and picked me up and just cried into me, I didn't know what was happening at the time…she never spoke of it again…when I finally found out properly, that he had started another family somewhere else but never had a kid…I locked myself in my room and didn't come out for days, just hiding under my bed clutching his necklace and I lost track of time…no one could get me to come out. For the next several weeks on the day I used to climb the big tree in the backyard, it was there I had the most memories of him…when I used to get stuck up there and he used to come out and have to climb up and carry me back down, I never learnt because I kept doing it time and time again…I stayed up there until my mother called me in for dinner. Whenever I was near her, I could feel those walls coming up around her and keeping her emotions in check around me…not wanting me to see her in her state of weakness. It went on like this until she finally began sleeping around to get the memory of him out of her head and out of the house, so instead of his scent lingering round places…it was the scent of cigarettes, alcohol and drugs everywhere I went…I couldn't stand it so I used to run away time to time when things got at their worst but she always came looking for me in the same place…the cemetery…it was just easier to consider him dead, it hurt less that way…then we'd both sit there on the couch staring at the front door waiting for any chance that he might walk back through it again, but he never did…so we'd cry until we fell asleep but she never changed…so when I grew up and went to MIT and left for Starling, I didn't stop calling her up to check in with her…I still do now…I just didn't want to be like him and pack up and leave her behind, even though she says what she does to me…I can hear the awareness of what I'm doing and she's appreciative of it but just doesn't say it in words" stray tears trailed down her face, making her look younger in Oliver's eyes, her innocence on full display.

So this is why she acted like she did when he told him about Moira, she was being reminded of that painful experience when her dad had left her and her mother.

Not being able to restrain himself back any further, Oliver shifted all the way over to her, erasing any distance between them both and pulling her into his arms. She came without hesitation.

"You've still got his necklace haven't you?" he felt her nodding into his chest. "You can let it out, it's alright I won't judge you for it _ever_" and with that she slowly began to let everything go, tears streaming down her face but through his eyes, _she's never been more beautiful. _

It was like she had explained from when she was younger, she had cried herself to sleep but this time in the arms of a man who understood where she was coming from, because that's the same way he felt deep inside when he was forced to kill the first time. But looking down at the sleeping woman in his arms, it sent chills through him to think that she would've killed her own father all to save her team mates.

She really never stopped being remarkable, showing deep loyalty to those she cared for but he knew the effects of those types of decisions made and the guilt that followed.

* * *

Standing with Felicity secured against him, Oliver made his way to her bedroom but didn't expect her to tightly grip him. The fact that even in her sleep she trusted him so much was like an electric shock to his heart.

Nobody has ever trusted him like that before, not even Laurel.

She may say that she does but when it comes down to it, she doesn't and he's proved that countless times but Felicity on the other hand has proved her trust towards him by willingly putting herself in all types of dangerous positions and counting on him to get her out of there in one piece.

The man who had decided to leave her for two decades was insanely stupid in that department because he gave up so many brilliant things, like the fact of having such a loyal and remarkable woman for a daughter and that fact alone is enough to make him want to shoot him in the head, because his brain is clearly broken.

* * *

That night he just laid there with Felicity safely in his arms, appreciating the honour of knowing her and not only being able to work beside her but also being able to see clearly of his feelings towards her. Being able to love someone as rare as Felicity, in a world full of such nightmare and terror is the greatest gift that he could ever be given.

At first, after the island he thought he would never be able to find any source of love other than forced but then he had met Felicity and straight away he was captivated by her bright colours, her ability to not take any shit from anyone, personality and just her all-in-all because to someone as lost and as dark as him, she really is a sight for sore eyes and he couldn't help but smile. The first smile since his life had gone down the dark route and it shocked him at how easy it was for her to make him smile.

Not a lot of people could do that with him and that's what made him return to her again and again.

Maybe it's time that he finally give into something that's been lingering around them since Slade, when he had revealed his true feelings for her.

He will always be safe with her and he will stop at nothing to protect her from the evils of the world, even if one of those evils made themselves out to be her father.

_Nothing could break them apart, ever._


	12. Crash and Burn

**It's been a while since I last updated with a new chapter so here you go. **

**The ironic thing is when I first begun to write this trope, _I _caught the cold going round school and I couldn't help but laugh at the chances but luckily I didn't throw up..._well not yet anyways_. **

**Getting back to the point, thank all of you for leaving reviews because trust me when I say it's a lot of fun just reading through them all to see what people think of my stories.**

**Thanks guys!**

* * *

As Oliver walked out of the executive floor of QC he couldn't wait to see the perky, colourful woman waiting for him at her desk. That Friday he strode out of the elevator with a grin covering the majority of his face because for once in his life, he had something to be smiling about.

They had finally been able to win back QC from the evil clutches of Ray Palmer, _well evil in his eyes_; everything then went back to as normal as it could be.

But something he wasn't expecting was for her seat to be empty when he arrived. Digg was sitting on the couch in his office chewing his gum, a normal routine for him.

"Digg where's Felicity? Isn't she here yet?"

"Don't know, haven't heard from her all morning…she was fine when she left the lair last night" maybe she had just decided to have a lay in but a part of him said _when did she ever do lie-ins? _

"Maybe she's just going to be getting in later today, it is Friday after all"

"Probably anyways someone came in with a stack of papers for you to sign, so enjoy my friend"  
Groaning, Oliver sat in his chair behind his desk and began the long and tiresome process of signing each letter about projects within the company needing his approval.

* * *

Two hours later and still no Felicity, now Oliver was beginning to get worried. Felicity never _in her life _missed a day of work but he knew that she would call him to let him know if anything was wrong, unless she couldn't make it to her phone in time.

Not beginning to hold it in anymore, Oliver whisked out his phone and called Felicity's cell hoping to God he was just being paranoid and nothing was actually wrong with her.

Holding it to his ear, he listened to the ringing.

* * *

When she had risen that morning, Felicity was met by a terrible pain in the pit of her stomach, like she was being stabbed a thousand times over. Not giving herself another minute to stay curled up on her bed; Felicity was on her feet and sprinting over to the toilet before she could give it a second thought. She felt like she was depositing the contents of her stomach into the toilet bowl.

The only sound she could hear was the sound of her retching continuously into the toilet. _Why did her body have to hate her?_

From the amount of bile that she chucked up she didn't bother moving from her position on the floor of her bathroom so she lost all track of time.

From her bedroom Felicity's phone rung and it didn't take a genius to figure out who was calling her but in that moment she didn't give a monkey's ratty uncle about the phone or the caller, her main focus was on directing everything into the toilet and not over the floor but that did nothing to help the stabbing pain in her stomach.

_So this was what it felt to be hated by the Universe?_ The majority of her thoughts revolved around.

Curling herself up into a tight ball with the arms locked around her stomach, applying pressure to the pain to ease it as much as she could, Felicity gently laid her head down on the refreshingly cold tiled bathroom floor not caring how much her eyes stung from the tears leaking out.

* * *

"She isn't picking up and that's the eighth time I've called her in the past ten minutes…Digg I have a bad feeling about this"

"Look Oliver just go, I'll cover for you"

"Thanks man I owe you one"

"You think?" if Oliver wasn't so centred on needing to know if Felicity was alright, he would've laughed at Digg's comment.

Hopping onto his bike, Oliver sped down to Felicity's house not caring about receiving any tickets, he'd like to see any cops just try and mess with him right now.

* * *

Knocking on her front door Oliver called out Felicity's name but when he heard no response, he pulled out the spare key she always hid under the pot on the front window sill and let himself in remembering to lock the door behind him.

"Felicity?" from the moaning and groaning he heard from upstairs, he booted it up the stairs taking them two at a time and followed the sounds to her bedroom. Frowning when he didn't see her, his heart rate sped up slightly until he heard the slightly in pain moans coming from the bathroom. Shooting over to the ajar door of her bathroom, he swung open the door and saw her curled up in a tight ball around the toilet and pressing both her arms far into her stomach.

"Felicity! What's wrong?" he was by her side in seconds. Gradually, her head lifted from where it was laid on the floor. Her face was puffy while her eyes looked raw red, brimming with tears.

"Oliver? What are you doing he….argh" she trailed off as her face contorted in pain and she groaned, throwing her head back on the floor with a dull thud.

"What's wrong?" Oliver didn't see any signs of injuries but there could be more than meets the eye.

When he lightly placed his hand on the side of her face, he instantly pulled back like he'd been burnt. She had a high temperature.

Just when he was about to slightly lift her off the floor, she lurched her body up and began chucking up. Now it all made sense to him, she was sick and currently stuck in the bathroom from the effects of the illness.

Pulling her hair back out of the way, Oliver drew circles on her back to give as much comfort as he could. The retching ceased to nothing but heavy breaths. Drawing her back to his chest, from the way her head lolled back to rest against his shoulder and her eyes lingered between open and closed, he knew all of this was wearing down on her.

"I feel like crap…can't stop throwing up" she breathed out.

"Come on…I know something that might make that better for you" rising off the floor without another word from her, he laid her out on her bed before whispering that he'd be right back and not to go anywhere.

"Trust me…wasn't planning on it" shifting her head onto her marshmallow-pillow behind her head, _they were so comfy_; Felicity made herself as comfortable as she could while Oliver went to her kitchen.

Popping the kettle on to make her a steamy cup of coffee, Oliver called Digg.

"Yeah she's not going to be coming into work today…she's coming down with an illness that's taken most of it out of her…you know how she hates me carrying her well she put no fight when I carried her out of the bathroom, it was safe to say she was chucking her insides up and couldn't move from the toilet"

"_And I'm sure you're going to be taking care of her for the remainder of the day?_"

"Yep"

"_I hope she gets well soon_"

"Thanks Digg, see you Monday and take the rest of the day off with Lyla"

"_Don't think for a second that you don't still owe me Queen_" that got a laugh out of Oliver.

"Wouldn't dream of it"

"_Take care of her for me_"

"You don't have to tell _me _that"

"_I know, goodnight_"

"Night"

Carrying in the tray of chicken soup and two cups of coffee with a hot water bottle tucked under his arm he walked back into the bedroom and saw Felicity's eyes slowly flutter open.

When she saw the coffee she let out a huffy laugh, Oliver bringing her coffee was a sight she never thought she'd see in her life. Oliver also saw the funny side of it and flashed a smirk her way before setting the tray up on the bedside table.

"Hey ya go…whenever I was sick Raisa would always do this for me, instantly made me feel better" sitting on the side of her bed, he pulled the covers back and wrapped a tea towel around the hot water bottle before placing in against her stomach then covering her once again.

"You didn't have to do all this…I would've be fine" she couldn't help the sigh of relief when she felt the heat radiating through the towel and onto her skin.

"Yeah sure, you probably would continue to lie down on the bathroom floor for the entire weekend"

"Don't tempt me"

Oliver couldn't help but snigger, even sickness couldn't drag Felicity down all the way.

"I would never"

"Liar" she glared at him with one eye still shut tight, the other straight-away joined it.

"You know me too damn well"

"And don't you forget that"

Grabbing the soup off the tray Oliver grabbed the soup off the tray and positioned himself behind Felicity, who gladly helped by leaning forward slightly so he could slip behind her, and helped her down the soup but she could only stomach half of it before falling asleep against him, her head relaxing on the crook of his arm.

Shifting her so he could replace the bowl back on the tray, Oliver gathered her against him placing his hands atop the hot water bottle to keep it in place so he could move them both into a more comfortable sleeping position. Settling himself down on the bed beneath the covers with Felicity sprawled out up against his side, not really caring for the fact that she was still sick.

Felicity couldn't help but laugh when a couple days later, Oliver came down with the same illness and she took care of him just like he had done with her.

Digg smirked at the fact that during those few days, they were acting like a married couple.


	13. Tequila

One thing that her friends, from Vegas, had learnt was to _never in a million years _let Felicity _anywhere _near tequila because that's when the true party started and they were sure she had absolutely no control over her actions.

So when they had decided to visit her one Friday afternoon they had dragged her, reluctantly, into the building of a club about a block from Verdant.

Judging from the way she was mouthing _'help me' _to Digg, Oliver, Sara, Laurel, Thea and Roy she knew it wasn't going to be ending well so that's why she kept her phone on her at all times, no matter what the alcohol did to her sense of direction in life.

They had practically forced the dress on her that Felicity, tried to say but failed, would never be caught dead in.

"I wonder what torture they're making her suffer through right now?" Sara wondered aloud in the Foundry, where everyone was gathered thinking about their I.T girl being dragged off, against her will, to somewhere she didn't want to be.

"How long do you think it'll take for her to come running back here again?" Laurel said in a teasing voice, during the time in which it'd taken for Laurel and Thea to join Team Arrow, as Felicity marvellously put it, all the girls had formed a sister-hood friendship with one another.

* * *

What'd she warn them not to let her do?

_Go anywhere near tequila_ and yet somehow she had gotten herself dragged into a shot-taking contest, which from her experience in Vegas had given her the ability to trump every single competitor in but it left her in a daze.

So now here she was grinding on the dance floor with some stranger, who obviously lacked in the self-control department and not to mention the clingy department, because he was literally all over her right then.

She could feel his arousal through the backside section of her thin-clad dress.

Why she had actually allowed her friends to dress her up like some Barbie doll was completely beyond her but she didn't say a word because she knew them far too well for them to respond in a well-placed comeback, which will probably cause her to lie to hide the secret of what she really did with her night life.

The worst part of dancing with this handsy stranger was the fact that she actually allowed him to treat her like a rubbing post for his _thing_ that was clearly unhappy not staying in his pants; actually it shocked her to say the least at how it was actually _staying _in his pants.

What happened next was completely and utterly out of her control.

* * *

He growled, not being able to hold it back any more, not being able to take any more of the torture Oliver had used her tracker to track her phone to her whereabouts just to see if she was alright and not being forced into anything she didn't want to do. With Digg, Roy, Thea, Sara and Laurel hot on his trails, Oliver flew out of the pounding club upstairs and into the club a couple blocks down, Felicity's tracker said she was located in.

Searching the over-populated club for any sign of his Felicity, it concerned him at the fact that he couldn't see her at all. The sound of Thea, Sara and Laurel shouting out 'O.M.G' out loud, Oliver turned and followed their line of sight to a sight he never thought he'd ever see _in his life_.

There on the stage, currently hanging upside down from the dancing pole atop the main stage was _his girl_.

He'd never seen her so _carefree_ but then his thoughts were swamped by the sight of her in _that dress_.

Felicity wore a short, black cocktail dress that tightly hugged itself around her body, showing off her curves in all the right places that also emphasised other places perfectly. At the front of the dress a diamond shape was cut out, showing the sides of her breasts and how she was _braless_. The front of the dress was held up by a piece of string circling her neck. When she turned Oliver saw how the back section of her dress criss-crossed with a zip lining the centre and from the way her back curved beautifully, it made out her butt in perfect figure. The look finished off with her golden flowing hair hushed to the side, flowing out in waves down her shoulder.

She looked ravishing.

Snapping back to himself again Oliver and the rest of the team watched in awe as Felicity performed a flawless yet daunting routine on the pole, proving the true strength of those legs that had put him in a daze for months now, slowly going on into years.

If you gave him a penny for every second he spent drooling over those legs of hers, she would be _by far _the richest man in the world.

It was then he registered the group of men circling the stage like hungry hyenas, well guess what _he was the lion protecting his lioness_ and there was no way in hell he was letting any of _them_ get their grimy hands on her.

Prowling towards the stage, his eyes never wavered from Felicity's.

Not caring who in the world saw this, as long as _he _was the only one _anywhere _near her and right then the need to keep that remarkable woman on that stage guarded from aspects of both worlds was more powerful than anything Oliver had ever known.

* * *

"How do you think she's going to react to this when she sees this?" Roy voiced the question in everyone's heads as he recorded the entire thing on his phone while Thea took dozens of pictures, ready to show them to Felicity when she sobered up.

"Probably not well, especially with Ollie acting like this" Laurel said, also recording the encounter on her phone.

* * *

Shoving the googly-eyed men out of his path, Oliver made a beeline for the stage.

* * *

Felicity was still groggy from the tequila and was clearly out of it because sober, she would never have begun poled dancing but from the effects the tequila had on her, she clearly wasn't in her best mind then.

She hadn't done pole dancing ever since she had left Vegas and that was only because she had desperately needed the money for MIT so when she saw the advertisement, she hadn't given it a second thought.

During her vacation one semester one of Felicity's friends, Catherine even though her friends always called her Cat, had once again basically forced her to enrol in classes which she actually turned out to be pretty good in and ended up shocking the coach at how much of a natural talent she had at natural strength, grace and poise all mused up together.

But clearly her brain wasn't functioning properly, making her stumble when she had finished on the pole and trip right off the stage. Shutting her eyes up tightly expecting to be met by a hard, cold metal surface but it never came.

Opening her eyes, she saw Oliver's face hovering above her and he held her bridal-style in his arms. What was it with this man and saving her?

"I take that as a compliment" he mused before beginning to walk out of the crowd she had unknowingly put together and towards the door.

Wait did she just say that out loud…urgh, god sake!

"My friends….my purse" Felicity muttered, bending herself over his arm to look behind her at the bar where her friends were looking at her with dreamingly yet knowing looks.

"Digg's got it…come on I'm taking you home"

He really hated taking no for an answer. Damn insufferable, arrogant man. _Luckily she had managed to keep that part silent_.

"But the night's still young, besides I was chilling with my friends…" Felicity ended up slurring, head still bent over his arm.

* * *

No matter what she said, he still wouldn't stop from all-but charging her out of that door that _need _to shield her radiant beauty from everyone and honestly he didn't really care if that made him selfish, when it came to Felicity _especially when it came to Felicity wearing that dress with her body _it would gladly wrap her up in bubble wrap just to keep her from the nightmares of the world, he didn't have that right.

When he felt how she bent over his arm, at the feel of just how flexible she was _something else he didn't know about her_, he had already made up his mind on where he was going to be taking her and he had no plan bringing her back into that club again, being felt up by a load of strangers he seriously was considering sending arrows into to keep them off _his _Felicity.

* * *

Months ago they had gone on a date and the results ended up disastrous, with Felicity laying on that goddamn metal table where only _he _was allowed to lay, then he knew he was the one taking the pain and no one else but that wasn't the case instead of it being him it was her.

He had lost it. He was so close to his breaking point.

It was then he realised how much he needed her to hold him together and without her, he was that lost man searching for his way back home again and it hurt him at how much he needed her but how much he had to sacrifice to keep her safe.

The worst part of it was that look of acceptance, that all-too-easy look that he knew too well. In that moment he saw the pain he was bringing down on her shoulders so he did the thing that he found the easiest in the world to do, he pushed her away and she knew that so kept her distance but he knew that she was also keeping him at a distance too.

The air between them changed but she continued to act as normal as possible around others but when it was just them alone together, she was so distant.

He couldn't help it, that instinct to protect her raged inside of him so deeply that it was the thing that Oliver used to drive himself to fight most of the times. To hear her voice again, to see her beaming smile that he swore was contagious, those bright colours that shone off her personality so much it blinded him.

But how could he keep her at a distance, how could he protect her when she did things like this? When she was so vulnerable yet so in control? It made his appreciation of her run deeper when he saw how in control she was when she didn't even realise she was doing it.

* * *

When he had finally gotten her home, _with a visit from Digg to give him her forgotten purse and a clear protective-big-brother-warning_ Felicity had already passed out in his arms and was now cuddled so far into his chest but as he walked through her living room towards her bedroom upstairs, she slowly stirred and softened the remaining tension when she opened her eyes to darkness but she knew Oliver was the one still carrying her by the way he held her.

* * *

As soon as she opened her eyes, there was no headache, no wincing, nothing but a light yet firm pressure on her stomach. Glancing down she frowned when she saw an arm draped over her stomach.

Following the arm behind her to the owner, Felicity saw a sleeping Oliver behind her and by the look on his face; he was in a deep sleep.

Trying to think back, the events that followed in her bedroom were blurry.

Controlling her minor freak out, Felicity checked beneath the covers at her body and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she saw that she was in her PJs.

Looking again back at Oliver, he hadn't moved a muscle from his original position.

Taking a couple deep breaths Felicity shifted herself slightly out of Oliver's grasp, _very _cautiously, wary not to wake him but as the distance between them grew her fear of him suddenly waking up grew too.

Eventually, due to her slow and careful movements, Felicity managed to get out of the bed and away from Oliver. Now she sat on her butt, legs tucked in beneath her feet at the foot of her bed.

Since she was finally sober, it gave her the chance to use the majority of her brain to its full use.

It hurt her immensely at how much they had drifted apart those few months after their disastrous first date which resulted her on the med-bay and Oliver practically in tears beside her. She knew by how he was coiled up, mask in place guarding himself from his own emotions, she knew what he was going to say and to be honest it didn't really surprise her. So she had taken it without as much heart as she could.

To love someone like Oliver Queen was a danger in itself. It was a life laced with dangers hidden round every single turn and the knowledge that you had to constantly be looking over your shoulder wounded her.

But one of the many reasons she had stayed to begin with was the fact that she _knew _she could help make a difference in not only Starling City but in Oliver's life too. She knew he hated killing from the look on his face.

She hated the fact that he always sacrificed his own happiness to provide the safety and happiness of others.

Nobody would ever know but when that bomb went off and Felicity had listened to her instinct to throw herself in front of Oliver, to shield him from the blow, it was one of the best decisions she's ever made because for once in her life, she felt relieved to be the one in pain.

Because that meant nobody else was. All that pain, all the suffering, the feeling of how easy it is to give up, to die is aimed at her and only her and for that she was thankful.

Felicity held a breath when Oliver frowned and a look of discontent plagued his features, he began shifting, feeling around for _something _and Felicity knew he was searching for her, seeking her out. When his foot suddenly moved towards her, he must've sensed her presence because the next second he was reaching towards her and pulling her back into his embrace, also tightening his hold on her slightly but this time he purposely left no escape route for her to take.

Oliver trapped her against him and for the first time since the explosion, Felicity allowed her body to cuddle close to him, burrowing into his warmth and in response he nuzzled his nose into her hair.

Both arms came to band around her waist so her side was flush against his front and finally she succumbed to sleep, letting it make her weightless and make it feel like she was floating.

* * *

That morning if Oliver noticed how in the morning he woke up practically on top of Felicity he didn't say anything, just fell back asleep again to a promise.

The promise of a new outlook on life and this way _Felicity was totally his. _


	14. Taken

**I got inspiration from 'Ghost of a Future Lost and Regained' by AnAverageGirl15 it's awesome would definitely advise you guys to go and take a read of it, it includes smut if anyone's interested XD.**

**Nearing the end I wasn't quite sure how to end this _or I wanted to _but I eventually put something together so yeah. **

**Anyways so I got inspiration from that fanfic and decided to see what happens with this one so I hope you enjoy reading this and please tell me what you think by leaving a review! Thank you!**

Taking several deep breaths, she sprinted across the expanse of the yard ignoring the pain flaring throughout her body. She didn't care if her body felt like it was slowly dying on her, she wouldn't stop running until she knew she was safe, until she was home but no matter how far or fast she ran, they always caught her, drug her back kicking and screaming then she was once again met by darkness.

The dark that had once haunted her was now her constant companion, the only thing that hadn't changed. It had embraced her; it hadn't pushed her away so instead of fighting she just succumbed to the peace, that feeling of security that it provided.

Thinking back to that night, maybe she should've been more cautious then none of this would've happened.

_She was walking through Verdant's underground car park where she always parked her car during her work timetable. She was unlocking it when suddenly a hand entered her vision and she knew she struggled but after that all she remembered was darkness. _

What happened to her?

* * *

Oliver was beating the hell out of one of the practice dummies, his usual victim, when Digg finally entered the Foundry. Sighing, Digg went to his desk and begun the task of cleaning his guns. Ever since Felicity had been kidnapped that night, four months ago, Oliver became more distant, more closed off to everyone including the Lance sisters especially Laurel, who he had attempted a new start at a relationship but it all came screeching to a halt when he found out Felicity had been taken.

He had gone out on patrols, much longer and more frequently trying to find her, searching relentlessly but coming up with nothing. You could tell by the bags under his eyes that he wasn't finding a lot of sleep. The amount of days Digg had come into the Foundry and found Oliver screaming Felicity's name then waking up in a panic, he was taking it all too hard.

Now that he thought about it, Felicity was the only person who could get Oliver to be normal. She was _it _for him but he had yet to realise it though.

Digg prayed to God that they were able to get Felicity back in one piece otherwise; _they would lose Oliver for good. _

* * *

Waking up, she instantly saw that she wasn't in the same place she typically woke up. This time it wasn't the damp, dingy cell that smelt like death served up on a platter. This time it felt warmer.

Where the hell was she?

Looking around Felicity's eyes automatically saw the man sitting on the couch across from her, staring at her and not hiding the fact either.

"Where am I?"

"Safe" was the only thing he said before he left her alone.

A clean set of clothes were laid out on the bed. Glancing down, she remembered how she hadn't changed clothes from the day she was kidnapped. Her current clothes were shredded to pieces, sections of cloth were missing and the only thing they were capable of doing now was hiding her prized jewels from prying eyes.

Pushing the pain aside for the time being, Felicity quickly changed into the fresh clothes and disposed of her old ones, they were warm and comfortable.

Spotting a mirror against a wall of the room, she took the time to look herself over at all the scars she had collected over the months.

A jagged scar ran diagonally across her stomach from where she'd been sliced with a knife. Thousands of scars scattered across her chest, making themselves to be known as whip marks from where she'd been tortured for information but refused to talk. Scars from now healed bullet and arrow wounds spread across her back but the one that had the majority of her attention was the marks that distinctly looked like lightning bolts. Images of when her capturers had sent 2,000 volts of electricity through her repeatedly because of yet another escape attempt. But that never stopped her once; it only heightened that instinct to escape all the more.

A spear shooting through the air is what snapped her out of her thoughts, guiding her to catch the incoming spear seconds before it hit her square in the chest.

"Your training begins now"

"For what" Felicity was swivelling the spear tip around in her fingers, keeping her centred on something.

"Need to know information"

"You didn't answer my first question. Where am I?"

"You don't ask the questions" he didn't seem too happy with her at all but honestly, Felicity didn't give flying monkey what he was happy with.

"Tough luck I'm not going anywhere until I know what I'm getting myself into for starters"

"I have a feeling we are going to work well…for now all you need to know is that we fight for justice, for those who can't defend themselves but we keep killing others as a last resort…you are now going to begin your training for your joining the League of Shadows"

"Lead the way" straightening her body posture, Felicity followed after the man into the training room. She had a feeling that something interesting was waiting beyond the corner for her to appear but she wasn't sure what.

* * *

"People confuse those of us with the League of Assassins, be sure we are _nothing _like them, we do not enjoy death, we do not celebrate death….we keep it at bay as long as possible understood?" the leader had sent to see her and welcomed her to the League.

Felicity had once heard of the League of Shadows and it was true, they were nothing like the League of Assassins. They helped defend people who didn't stand a chance in battle; they served as their last line of defence. Members of the League were like shadows, ninjas in the dark and nobody had ever cut one down so they definitely held a reputation.

The leader of the League had taught her how to ignore any pain plagued upon you at any time and focus on the path ahead instead of giving in to the easy path, taking the easy way out. Felicity had never in her life felt as strong as she did then. With all her training, she was a shadow in the night and with training she had learnt things she had never known about before. She was so grateful for everything the League had done for her, giving her the confidence she needed to live through the next day.

It had taken a month for to finally be given her uniform and her first assignment.

Leather hugged her body while a thick but light layer of armour protected her from the outside world and the threats it possessed. Cloaking her identity was a full-faced mask that only left her mouth visible to the world. Her entire figure was masked in darkness, the same she had confidence in and because of everything she had become worked well with her.

Attached to her back laid an equipped bow that was similar to that of the bow she had custom made for Oliver.

_Oliver _she hadn't spoke of his name for those few months and since she joined the League. By now she prayed he had given up on her and moved on but that didn't stop her from thinking about her life back in Starling once or twice every noun and again, the leader had caught sight of this and merged it in with her first assignment perfectly.

Her task, protect the Arrow and his sidekicks.

* * *

"Ollie your target should be on the rooftops in your current location now" Laurel's voice came through comms. He always hated when Laurel called him that but never voiced his dislike on the topic.

Over the months Laurel had taken up Felicity's vacant place on the team but obviously, she was nowhere near as talented as Felicity was. Ever since that dreadful night he found out she had been taken from him Oliver was never open with anyone, never lived a normal life because every time he tried his thoughts would always be plagued with Felicity. She had wriggled her way into his life so much that she was everywhere. On the costume he wore at night, _he remembered how he had locked eyes with her deep blue orbs as she pulled his mask down and said he was a hero_, she was in the Foundry sitting in her chair behind her monitors dancing to some random music she had put on, she was in his life as Oliver Queen _he remembered when he first promoted her to his EA and how much she had hated it every second but soon warmed up to the position_ and worst of all she was there every time he closed his eyes telling him how it _wasn't his fault _and how it was _her life, her choice _but Oliver hated the words _I want you to let me go and move on_ because no matter what he did, he couldn't move on from her.

"Clear, Arrow out" he wasn't paying attention so when the sound of someone face planting the tarmac of the roof made his head snap behind him.

Upon seeing a black clad figure giving away nothing of their identity, he nocked an arrow and aimed for their chest.

"Who are you?"

Seconds passed without a response, causing his anger to boil.

"I said…who….are…..you?"

"I heard you the first time, I'm not deaf" that voice was distorted to his ears but the words behind it hit him full force. _NO! Stop it! She's dead, Felicity is gone and she's never coming back again! _Shaking his head, he edged forward.

"What do you want?"

"Put the bow down _hero_ nothing's going to happen"

He noted the voice to be female. But why did she just call him a hero?

Without another word, she spun on her heel and jumped off the edge of the building. Running up to the edge, he looked down and saw nothing but shadows. Then it dawned on him, _the League of Shadows_.

* * *

Ever since that first meeting, he hadn't seen so much as a glimpse of the woman who had saved his life from one of the most feared enemies of Starling. She had taken him down within seconds, but he couldn't stop thinking about her and why she had decided to help _him_.

* * *

Days later he walked right into a trap and got himself in one hell of a pickle. Men flooded into the room from every direction, surrounding him and leaving him with no way of escaping. He knew his chances of escaping were slim to none but he wasn't giving up without a fight.

Taking on three men at a time, the other twelve men swarmed round him before together throwing him to the ground several feet away from their current position. That's when he heard a whistling noise sound through the room. An arrow soared through the air like an eagle before planting itself in the ground in the centre of the group of men's feet, seconds later exploding with such a force.

Looking towards the direction the arrow had flown from that's when he saw her again, she had saved him _again_ but the moment didn't last long before she disappeared from the room in the matter of a blink of an eye and just like that it was like she hadn't even been there but _she had_ and it didn't stop there.

* * *

Over the next several months she had saved him and members of his team countless times. So much so that he had named her, _the guardian _and the name stuck. One time he was in a fight 5 vs. 1 and just like he had expected, she had appeared and fought by his side.

There were times where he just wanted to rip that mask off and see his saviour in all her glory but he never got the chance because it was like she disappeared into thin air.

* * *

It had now been well over a year since she had joined the League and received her task of protecting the Arrow.

The countless number of times she had saved Oliver's life and those of the remaining members of her old team had steadily been increasing that she may as well be living in the Foundry but she knew that was out of bounds.

Oliver had tried several times to draw her in but she fled the scene before anything else could happen but that didn't mean she completely left though.

Never in all the time she dedicated to protecting her friends did she expect the following to happen but now that she deeply thought about it, she had it coming.

* * *

Tracking the target to an old alleyway in the middle of the Glades, Oliver, Roy, Digg and Sara crept silently to their intended destination.

"Hello kid" Slade's voice had tugged Oliver forward until he was in plain sight of Slade.

"You're supposed to be dead"

"I could say the same to you…did you really think you could kill me boy?" with that everyone attacked. Shooting the cure arrows into the bodies of the minions, the team allowed Oliver to focus solely on Slade, who was coming at him with full force. They may have been old friends but they fought like enemies.

It was seconds later when Slade finally had Oliver on the ground, raising his sword Slade intended it to cut into the body of his former brother but it was knocked out of his hands by a flying arrow. Looking up from the ground, Oliver saw his guardian with her bow in hand central by several others. It was then she began her way forward, leaving the remaining members of her group in her original position.

"Who the hell are you?" Slade yelled out, fuming for being interrupted but she never once stopped waltzing towards him.

"Your worst nightmare" she snarled before attacking him.

Throwing himself over to the side Oliver watched in wonder at his guardian he didn't even know.

Felicity attacked Slade relentlessly, not giving him a second to catch a breath. Her training was taking over now and was in full effect. Her movements were swift and fluent as she and Slade engaged in combat, fighting it out until one hit the ground.

Holding her own Felicity saw at the corner of her eye as Oliver reached back for a cure arrow and aim if for Slade. She had to get him into a position where Oliver had a clear shot. Someway they had gone from hand to hand combat to metal poles. In that moment Felicity allowed her adrenaline to drive her movements as she steadily backed Slade up and Oliver took the shot, lodging the arrow directly in his upper thigh also causing him to fall to the ground with a swift roundhouse kick from Felicity.

"We will take care of him now, I guarantee you will not hear from him again" the leader promised Oliver, still dressed in the hood but his gaze won't waver from the woman standing beside the leader. Glancing beside him at Felicity, he smirked.

"If you would allow me, may I please know who you are?" she cast a look towards the man stood beside her and upon his nod, she spoke.

"Your guardian" Felicity smirked herself at Oliver's expression _someone wasn't happy with her answer _before the group took off at a run back into the shadows but she divided herself from the other men and scaled the nearest building. She was in desperate need of some shut eye but before that, there was something she needed to do first.

* * *

"You are free to pursue your own personal mission but please know that you will always have a home here" he freed her to live her life. She had served her purpose, the Arrow was safe and Slade was in A.R.G.U.S's prison and not going to be getting out for god knows how long.

"Thank you, for everything"

"There is no need for that"

"No you have taught me something valuable in this world, in this life and taught me things about myself that I didn't even know"

"You're stronger than you give yourself credit for but sometimes you forget who you came into this world as…no matter what happens to you, _never _lose sight of yourself and you'll find your way in this world"

It wasn't League protocol but she couldn't find it in herself to rein it in. Stepping forward Felicity wrapped her _now very firm and toned _arms around his neck and hugged him. Her actions came as a surprise to him but he didn't forbid the action, before he knew it he was tugged her closer to him and hugging her goodbye.

She had become like a daughter to her in the time she had spent with the League and never in his life would he forget her. He didn't care that she wasn't staying, he would still watch over her for all he knew he has never known someone like Felicity before. For something she loves she will fight till the end no matter the consequence.  
"Go"

"Until we meet again" her chosen choice of words weren't ignored by him.

* * *

_Your guardian _her words were bouncing around in his mind on the way back to the lair, now he wanted to know her identity all the more. He had sent everyone else home so he had the place to himself to think about what his life had in store for him now.

Oliver had just completed another set on the Salmon Ladder when he sensed someone in the lair and without looking he knew who it was.

Dropping to the floor in one motion, he turned towards the stairs and saw her leaning up against the wall.

"Thought you left"

"I had something I needed to do first"

"So are you going to tell me?"

"Just admit it to yourself, you've known for a while now" she shifted her gaze to him and they locked eyes and it sent something speeding through him.

"It's not possible who I am thinking of because she must be long gone by now"

"From the way it saddens you, she must've been important to you"

"You have no idea…if I could see here again, just once I would never ask for anything ever again"

"Answer me one question…why haven't you moved on?" her question shocked him because she was generally curious.

"Because I couldn't, she was…she was my everything, but it just took me a while to figure that out"

"So what would you do if could see her again?" in all the time they had been talking, she hadn't moved one inch and neither did he.

"That's the thing, she's never coming back…I've lost her for good"

When he heard her sigh, he snapped his attention to her. Her hand reached up and removed her mask. No words were exchanged, silence swamping the moment entirely.

"…it-it-it was you the entire time?" Oliver finally muttered out but the level of brokenness that soaked his words hurt her.

"You didn't think I'd leave you in the fight against Slade did you or any fight to be honest…" the rest of the sentence trailed off when she saw how he was frozen to the spot.

"I should be going I need to wire down from-"

"Why did you leave?" Oliver interrupted her.

"After everything that happened I couldn't face you guys again but I never stopped watching over you guys"

"I thought you were dead"

"For a while, so did I" she huffed silently to herself.

"You fought Slade _for me?_"

"I _never stopped fighting _for you"

Everything happened in a blur. Striding over to her, Oliver hauled her into him and dove into a wild, passionate kiss who Felicity more then willingly returned. The hold he had on her was so tight he was terrified to let go. Pulling back to breathe, Oliver took the chance to remove any remaining distance between them, holding as close as humanly possible.

"I'm sorry for leading you on to believe that I was dead…I was scared that people wouldn't see me in the same way when they saw what I'd been through when actually it was _me _who was doing the judging" the entire time Felicity couldn't pull her gaze away from his lips.

"You could've come to me…you can always come to me"

"I know I just felt so vulnerable and shaken up"

"Please never be afraid to come to me when something happens to you, I will always help you"

"I know and thank you…anyways I better head home to get some shut eye"

As Felicity turned to walk up the stairs, Oliver tightened his grip on her and brought her back flush with his front.

"No way I'm letting you go that easily again"

"Oliver"

"No"

"Fine where I am going to sleep then?" she twisted herself back round to face him.

"My house"

"_You _have an actual _house_?" she was shocked.

"I'm serious"

"And if I escape, I've had training now Oliver…it's not going to be that easy for you now"

"Really try me"

At that Felicity smirked before she ducked out of his grasp and booted it up the stairs before jumping up above the door before it flew open, Oliver shooting out like a bullet from a gun. His eyes scanned the club for any glimpse of her. Smiling at the idea, Felicity jumped from her hiding place and before Oliver had any chance of changing the positions, she had her legs wrapped around his torso also keeping his arms in place.

"You're good"

"Oh I'm not done"

Shifting herself so she bent round his shoulder Felicity then kissed him senseless while keeping his arms locked in place, giving her leverage.

"No…fair" he whined between kisses.

"Life's not fair, suck it up"

Growling Oliver wrenched his arms free from Felicity's leg grip round his torso before moving them out the doors and towards his car.

* * *

The second they got to his house on the outskirts of the city, Felicity couldn't get away from Oliver for the entire night.

When she attempted to sneak away he raced after her, threw her over his shoulder and chucked her on the bed then plonked himself on top of her to weigh her down.

"Now whose not playing fair?" she pouted, cocking her head to the side.

"I swear if you try to leave this bed again without my permission I will hunt you down and drag you back here again so don't even bother"

"Oh really is that so?"

"You bet so behave yourself" as he leant down to kiss her, she surprised him rolling them over, reversing their positions.

"So I can't do that?" she mused, straddling him.

"Felicity" Oliver growled in warning.

"Oliver" she muttered his name she knew had an effect on him. Smirking when she felt the budge of his arousal peeking up between her legs "Something you want to tell me?" to this she gave him a devilish grin.

"_You're mine_" he snarled playfully before rolling them back over and stripping them both down until they both had not an ounce of clothing on.

They spent the night making love even thought at some points it was just like straight up fucking.

* * *

When the clock had said it was a couple hours past midnight Felicity found herself unable to fall asleep while Oliver was in a deep slumber, slumped over her in his sleep.

Extracting herself from his grasp wasn't too difficult with help from her new found skills.

Felicity ended up leaning against the banister that ran along the edge of the balcony to stop you from falling over the edge. She was looking over the city that was currently lit up in the night like several fireflies. When two strong arms wrapped around her waist and tugged her back into a firm, solid surface she knew exactly who it was without even looking.

"You okay?" he whispered into her ear, resting his head on her shoulder.

"Just thinking, can't sleep my mind's too wired"

"What happened to you out there?"

"I think some things you'd agree are just better staying in the past rather than stuck in the present"

"Felicity…you can trust me"

"I know…it's just I haven't really shown them to another soul to be honest, it's not so much that I'm ashamed of them they're reminders of what I survived but I guess I'm just protective I guess"

"I can understand that when I first got back from the island, I always kept them hidden from view then I met you and I don't know, I think I just became allergic to shirts as you so gloriously put it one day"

"Not my fault you parade around like a male model"

"Actually it is, it was funny watching you watch me work out when you thought I wasn't watching when actually I was"

"Who did you first show your scars to?"

"Laurel was one of the first people to see my scars along with you and Digg"

"So basically your girlfriend…what did she say or do?" the genuine interest made him go serious.

"She pretended to accept them when I saw the truth though, it terrified her the fact that I went through all of that"  
"What did you do?"

"Ignored her response but I'm not saying it didn't hurt because it did…I've got to admit though, out of everyone your response was the one that calmed me the most, the way you just accepted them as part of me"

"It was easy to be honest they're like souvenirs just in a sickening way"

"That's a nice image to imagine them in"

"I know"

"Felicity…come back to bed with me" Oliver began leading her back towards the bedroom.

When they were finally settled down on their sides facing each other, Felicity showed Oliver all the scars littering her body. Shock and anger registered first when he saw each one and knowing how she got them but then he began slowly kissing each one, not leaving a single one untouched by him before working his way up to her mouth and kissed her passionately.

"We're survivors Felicity, never be ashamed of that"

"We're fighters until the very end" she agreed.

"You're my warrior"

"And you're my hero"

That's how they stayed throughout the night. Not two broken souls but two people who had fought for the right to live in a world filled with violence and evil. They were both lost at some point but managed to find their way back to each other again and they never once separated.

* * *

Oliver couldn't stop laughing when he found Felicity doing dot-to-dot with her scars. He was laughing so much he was doubled over, face bright red but that didn't stop her from doing the exact same thing to him whether he liked it or not.

_Oliver may or may not have answered back with a trip to the bedroom for a little punishment. _

When Felicity returned to the team Digg, Sara and Roy all wouldn't stop hugging her and couldn't believe that their girl had handed Slade his ass but Laurel was too busy being jealous from the amount of time Oliver spent stealing kisses from Felicity.

For once in his life he finally had a reason to be happy. He had his girl back and she was never leaving him again, _not that she knew that part though_.

Everything had finally gone back to normal once again and everyone was happy.


	15. Burn

_Fire surrounded her like a cage, trapping her with no way to escape. Her throat burnt like hell and her eyes were burning holes in her skull. If felt like the highest levels of torture just to commit the simple act of opening her eyes. Tears drowned her vision as her body attempted the last resort at restoring the moistness of her eyes. _

_Never in her life had she ever experiences such extreme agony. _

_Her cries were suffocated in her throat as she scanned the room for any exits, any way out of this torment but her search came up with nothing. She was trapped and she wasn't getting out. She would be forced to stay her like this, slowly dying. This was a living nightmare._

_Maybe it was her brain playing sickening tricks on her, teasing her but she heard somebody screaming her name so desperately and she swore she heard her heart shatter at the desperate plead. Begging her to answer but every time she opened her mouth to respond, the fire roared at her, muting her attempts._

_She was running out of options._

_The fire consumed the majority of the room she now recognised to be a bedroom, leaving her to curl herself up into a tight ball in the corner of the room, opposite to the door. The window was framed, taunting her._

_Nobody was coming for her._

_She heard that voice again, screaming at her but no matter what she did, she couldn't respond._

_"WAKE UP!"_

* * *

Startling herself awake, Felicity began gasping for breath like she'd been drowning. A sweat had broken out across her brow; her hair was sticking for her forehead. Looking around her a feeling of panic swarmed her, blood pounding through her ears was the only thing that she could hear. Smoke was crawling in from beneath her door. Her heart began to thud in her chest so hard, she thought it was going to burst straight through her chest.

That wasn't a nightmare.

* * *

Stumbling out of bed, Felicity swung open her door and ran downstairs. How her legs didn't suddenly collapse beneath her she would never know but in that moment, adrenaline drove her.

Her entire kitchen and living room was in flames. There was no getting in and no getting out for her now.

Grabbing her phone from the table beside the staircase, Felicity raced back up the stairs and called the first person on her contacts. Putting the device to her ear, her breath came out more laboured with every ring.

"Felicity"

She did her best not to break down at his voice and how worried it sounded.

"Felicity, are you alright?"

"….Oliver…" she could feel the waves of panic crashing down on her. Forcing herself to take deep breathes she pushed on but knew that panic wasn't far away.

"Felicity, what's happening?"

"…my-my kitchen…living room…downstairs…fire…hot…hard-hard-hard to breathe" stammering out as her body collapsed on the floor.

Leaning forward, Felicity closed her eyes and tried her best to bring her walls up but they were currently smashed to pieces.

"Felicity…listen to me, I need to breathe deep breaths alright…listen to my voice and tell me where you are"

"Bedroom…Oliver…the smoke is getting in…I can't breathe properly"

"Felicity we're on our way…what I want you to do is stay low and focus on your breathing alright…get as far away from the fire as possible okay, can you do that for me?"

"Oliver…I can hear it…it's coming for me" tears gushed down her face making puddles on the floor as she whispered into the phone. She couldn't stop her hands from shaking.

"Felicity you're going to be alright, I'm not going to let anything hurt you…I'm coming for you, we're almost there…just hold on alright, hold on for me and _don't let go_" Felicity could hear him breaking down over the phone.

Crackling sounded from the hallway. It was growing closer to her.

Backing herself into the furthest corner, Felicity clutched the phone that connected her to Oliver like a lifeline.

The rhythm in which her chest rose and fell increased as the door was burnt to the floor, the only thing left guarding her from the fire raging.

"Felicity?" at Oliver's voice everything seemed to slow. Swallowing, Felicity whispered to him.

"…Oliver?"

"I'm here…hold on Felicity we're nearly there, just nearing the turning to your street now" she knew they were in the car and Digg was currently flooring it to her house.

But she knew they were going to be too late.

"…Oliver…I'm sorry…I-"

"NO! Don't you dare start that, we're going to get you out…you're not leaving us, you're not leaving _me_ Felicity, do you hear me? Don't you dare let go"

"…there's no way out and no way in…you can't help me Oliver, not now"

"Please Felicity…_don't_, don't do this to me"

"Oliver it's right in front of me…I just want to say…I-I-I love you, I always have and always will and Digg will always be my brother I never had…thank you Oliver, for everything"

"Felicity…don't…please, please I need you with me…Felicity?"

"Sorry"

Before he had the chance to respond Felicity ended the call and lowered herself to the ground, gently laying her head on the floor, she closed her eyes and filled her mind with thoughts of everything and everyone she loved and waited for the end to draw.

It's always darker before the dawn.

* * *

Oliver and Digg had just pulled up when Felicity ended the call. He could see the flames engulfing her house. The fire department had already been called and was currently racing to get here in time but he wasn't waiting for them, not when the most important person to him lay inside.

The next thing he knew he was running towards the house when he was suddenly restrained before he came anywhere near the door.

"If you go anywhere near there, you risk injuring yourself" a fireman stated to him but he wasn't listening.

"I'm not going to just let her die in there" he growled, trying to get away from the fireman but it wasn't any use because right now four firemen were holding him back while others ran inside with the hosepipe.

* * *

She didn't remember getting out. One minute she was on the phone apologising to Oliver and the next, blurry faces appeared in her vision before she lost the battle with consciousness.

* * *

When she woke up, there was a pressure on her right hand while something covered both her mouth and nose. Blinking open heavy eyelids, Felicity instantly eyed the heart monitor to her left side. Realising it was actually an oxygen mask supplying her with needed oxygen, she moved onto the next task. Seeing what the pressure was on her right hand.

Looking down, she saw the outline of a man through half-open eyes with a tight grasp on her right hand, his head resting just to the side of their entwined hands.

Fully opening her eyes, Felicity registered the feeling of half her body wrapped up.

What the hell had happened?

"Hey" a voice to the side of her caught her attention. It was Digg. "You're awake, thank God" she couldn't respond to him, only able to blink several times.

"You have no idea how worried the both of us were about you, Felicity"

When a coughing fit slowly took possession of her body, the jolting might have caused Oliver to wake up.

"Felicity, you're awake" he scooted his chair closer to her bed but she couldn't help the fear radiating through her when she couldn't feel her left leg at all. The heart monitor beside her apparently didn't like the way she was currently breathing and caused it to rise steadily, her eyes darted around the room when she finally realised she was actually in a hospital.

"Hey Felicity look at alright…you're okay now, we're with you nothing's going to hurt you" Oliver tried to calm her but the sound of his voice was muffled by her still increasing heartbeat. Panic once again swarmed her when she remembered what had happened previously.

"Felicity you have to calm down, you're scaring yourself" she managed to pick out from his constantly moving mouth. He came to sit on the side of her bed and cupped her face with his hand.

* * *

Felicity was vaguely aware of the next events that took place. She was sedated to numb her and stop her from panicking all the more, running the risk of endangering herself.

Her doctor had explained that she'd suffered major burns down her left leg and up her side slightly but other than that there was nothing to worry about. She assured her that they'd heal in time, as long as she took good care of herself then she'd be perfectly fine.

A couple weeks in the hospital, with daily visits from the team, she was finally discharged but having to promise the doctor that someone would be there to look after her. Oliver gladly promised the doctor that he'd take up the role.

* * *

Typically, both Digg and Oliver never left her side once as they escorted her to the car.

"You can just drop me off at a nearby hotel, I don't mind staying there for a while" Felicity said, not breaking her gaze from the window during her speech.

"Don't think so, until you recover you're staying with me" Oliver reached over and went to grasp her hand but she couldn't help the way her hand flinched away from his touch. Entwining her fingers with both hands, Felicity turned away from him and held herself together tightly.

She knew it was stupid but right then, especially in her moment of weakness but she just didn't want anyone to touch her because truth be told she felt so broken, so damaged by the thought of having burns running down the length of her body reminding her of the pain she went through. It was a way of the pain that taunted her, had played with her in every way. The moment where she had felt trapped and she thought she was going to die still lingered in her mind and she couldn't help it.

She knew it wasn't fair on Oliver since he had gone through the same thing but this was different he had gotten his scars from being strong she hadn't. She'd gotten herself trapped and that feeling would never go away.

How can you let someone in so close to your wound when all the time, you were so ashamed of them?

* * *

Oliver knew exactly what was happening with her when she flinched away from him and held herself so rigidly close to the door of the car and he hated every second of having to watch it.

He knew exactly how she hated the idea of being marked but her marks thankfully weren't like his and he despised the fact of her being wounded too but he knew all too well that there was nothing he could for her, this was something she had to get over by herself, the only thing he could offer her was the knowledge that he was there for her whenever she needed him.

* * *

Felicity had been staying with Oliver at his house for about a week now and whenever possible she had avoided all mirrors that revealed her scarred skin.

Oliver hadn't been able to get that close to her for the entire time. She didn't melt into him anymore, she held herself up forcefully whenever they crossed paths or if they touched. He missed everything little thing about what she used to do and he never thought he would ever hear himself saying that.

For the first few days she hadn't gotten a lot of sleep because when she fell asleep it was always the same thing over and over again. She was stuck in her house with the fire surrounding her and always ended with her gasped for breath with Oliver looming over her.

Sunday afternoon, Felicity had just risen out of bed after spending endless hours just lying there, when she finally had enough. She had been avoiding that part of her for a week now and goddammit she wasn't going to let herself anymore so she stood in front of the mirror and finally took a good look at the scars marking her skin twisting around her left leg and running up her side slightly. When she ran her eyes up the scars a third time, she caught the sight of Oliver leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest.

_'Not this time Felicity don't lock him out' _she thought as he entered the room.

Oliver slowly walking up behind her but stopped a foot or so behind her, clearly not sure if she wanted him to touch her and it hurt her that he now was silently asking her for permission to touch her, so she took a small step backwards and sank into him as he wrapped his arms around her from behind.

It was mainly from that point on that Felicity found both sleeping and accepting herself so much easier.


	16. Paradise

**So this fic is mainly revolved around a word prompt I decided to use after listening to a song. So what better than seeing Team Arrow _finally _taking an overdue holiday?**

**Hope you enjoy and as always, please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. **

**Thank you x**

_Now this was the life_ Felicity thought as Team Arrow made themselves comfortable on the beach.

Spreading out her towel across the warm sand Felicity turned to the sound of Roy rocketing into the sea, clearly not holding back at all.

Roy, Thea, Digg, Lyla, Laurel, Sara, Oliver and herself all decided that they were all in desperate need of a vacation, so the group had randomly chosen somewhere and just lost themselves in the idea of finally being able to let everything go and just relax.

The first place they had visited was one of the beaches. The beaches in Miami were incredible, the people just lying there basking in the sun.

Because Lyla was just beginning to start her second trimester, she and Digg were limited to joining the several others soaking up the rays.

Thea, Felicity, Laurel and Sara were all lined up beside one another lounging in their deckchairs, sipping their cocktails.

That left Oliver to his own devices. Lying flat on his stomach facing the waves, he was content with watching the waves flicking Roy, who was like a kid on the first time in the ocean with that look of pure joy on their face.

"Hey guys you coming in or what!" he yelled, his head bobbing along which made him smirk slightly.

"I think I'd like a dip" removing her sunglasses and placing them on the side bar of her chair, Felicity rose from her seat and reached for the hem of her hot pink, one shoulder throw-over.

This didn't go by unnoticed by a certain Queen, whose gaze was entirely locked on her. During these past months after that blasted night at the mansion, the atmosphere between him and Felicity had been dead tense and it was obvious that they weren't going to be able to go back to the position they were in before. He knew they were just friends but the more time he spent around her, the harder it was to stay convinced of the fact.

When Felicity stripped herself of her over-sized shirt, her one piece swimsuit made his breath hitch in his throat. Her leopard print swimsuit was the beginning of his downfall, he was sure of it.

The neckline of the suit plunged deep, showing off her cleavage in all its glory while the sides were non-existent and the back certainly didn't do anything to help either. The strings holding the entire thing up were crossed over the expanse of her back, leaving the rest on show. All in all the damn thing caused shocks straight to his core, who was he kidding? When she wore things like that which hugged her body showing off all the curves of her body, he couldn't stop himself from stalking her with his eyes. Thank god he had decided to lay on his stomach, otherwise this would definitely be awkward for everyone.

Felicity trotted into the sea before diving under the water's surface.

Not a lot of people knew it but she was an excellent swimming and diver, not to brag or anything but it was true. When she was in LA, Felicity had taken residence at the local beach to avoid being the target of one of her mother's painful-to-listen-to rants about how her life wasn't the life she expected of her and whatnot.

By swimming, all those memories melted away leaving her with just the sea to confide in and one thing she had learnt when she was younger was that it was good at keeping your secrets.

After the past couple months, Felicity had just forced herself to ignore Oliver and his actions towards her because she couldn't deal with anymore of his shit to be entirely truthful. The fake 'I love you' had hurt her enough but his behaviour whenever they were around each other had changed considerably and the most painful part was that she didn't even know if they could ever go back to the way they were before.

He wasn't an idiot to the fact that after Felicity had dove into the sea, groups of men had gathered around her position in the ocean and it was driving him crazy just having to lay there and watch as they watched her every move. It sent shivers up his spine.

Not being able to deal with it anymore, Oliver made his way to Felicity and Roy's position in the water where they began splashing each other. If he wanted to go back to normality with her, he was going to have to be the one to set it off.

Signalling for Roy to be quiet, Oliver snuck up behind Felicity. Ducking under, he moved himself so he was directly underneath her.

Shrieking in glee at his antics he wiggled her up on his shoulders. She was clinging onto his shoulders to keep her balance but when a devilish smirk covered her features, he knew he was in trouble.

Throwing herself back into the water, Felicity took Oliver with her and because of the momentum he had no choice but to go with her.

Coming back up for air, he glared at her but she just smiled and splashed him, series of giggles followed which put a smile on his face.

"Oh you are so going to get it now!" he laughed as he sprung across the water towards her, scooping her up in his arms and throwing her into the water beside him. When she came back up, the size of the smile of her face told him that they were going to be okay.

But it still didn't stop her from taking her revenge on him though, and from the laughs coming from the beach it seemed that the rest of the team were glad that the pair had gone back to being themselves around each other again.

The moment turned serious when Felicity planted a kiss on Oliver's lips before swimming away from him and back towards the beach again.

His world froze around her but then snapped back when he saw her moving towards the safety of their friends.

Smiling, he raced after her growling which made her laughter bubble up and burst through the top. Upon catching up with her, he swept her off her feet and into his arms once again.

"_Oliver _let me go" Felicity whined while still laughing.

"Nuh uh, not happening" he was met with a challenged look.

"OMG Laurel's naked" her eyes widening.

"What!" when he turned away from her, she took the opportunity to scrabble out of his arms.

"Sucker"

"Oh that's it" fortunately, for him, she wasn't able to get that far away so it allowed him to come up behind her and throw her over his shoulder.

"Oliver! Put...me...down" she tried her chance at squirming out from beneath his arm but it locked behind her leg, securing her to him/

_There was no way out of this, dammit _she thought.

"Nope" popping the 'p', Oliver moved back to her original position in her deckchair and sat down with her firmly planted on his lap.

"Good luck escaping Liz" Thea sniggered at her brothers antics for his now evident feelings for the completely oblivious I.T girl and the way Felicity tried to pout but was overcome seconds later in fit of giggles, which in turn just made Oliver chuckle all the more. Laurel and Sara couldn't contain their laughter anymore when Felicity began trying to wiggle out of his grasp but was rewarded by him tightening his grip, smirking down at her.

"How much I want to just bang their heads together" Lyla muttered to Digg, who was looking on with a shake of his head.

"Maybe this vacation was something they needed after everything, something to get them back to their old selves again…hopefully nothing too drastic has to happen to get them to finally figure out they're at their best together"

"I seriously hope so if they're going to become the godparents of little Digglet" that snapped his head her way.

"_Really? _ You too! I swear Felicity's just contagious altogether, first it was Team Arrow and now it's Digglet, what next?"

If only he knew.


	17. Waiting to Exhale

**I know this one is kind of short but it was still awesome to write nevertheless but I hope you lot like it.**

**As always please leave a review, _it makes me happy_ :P**

There was no gravity holding her down. No danger, not threats, no panicked thoughts. There was just _nothing. _There was no more pain anymore, it was just silent. There wasn't darkness just light, the brightness of the moon shone down upon her warming her; it was if it had wrapped her up in its own blanket of safety. Huh she didn't even feel cold just warmth. The world around her was mute.

To be entirely truthful it felt kind of serene just floating there surrounded by the water, it felt like a weird type of dream. She knew that this was bizarre but she didn't care. For the first time in her life she could see clearly and finally, _it was about her_.

* * *

The van had dove off the bridge and plunged deep into the water below, sinking down to the bed. She had barely managed to escape the ropes that banded her limbs down before they hit the water's surface. She knew that she should've tried her hand at escaping from the van but she panicked, the men in the back were dragging her down alongside them. There was no possible way she could've escaped without severely injuring herself, then how could she possibly get out of here?

The men that held her captive during her kidnapping after a mission gone wrong, and her hopeless timing as usual ended up with her being snatched right off her feet without another sound but that didn't mean she wasn't able to send some sort of sound to notify her teammates something bad was happening to her, held knives pressed up to her throat. Images of Slade's sword at the corner of her vision plagued her thoughts, her memories and made the situation more deadly in her perspective than it was actually made out to be.

Water flooded in through the windows, trapping them layer upon layer. Just from glancing at the front she knew the driver and the man seated beside him were already dead.

Everyone around her was panicking, trying desperately to escape when they already knew they were dead. There was no escaping now.

One moment they were on their feet, hammering at the sides of the van and the next they were still.

She was the last one remaining and she knew that more than ever.

Trying one last attempt at breaking free of the shackles bracing her, covering her all over she clutched one of her heels bobbing around like an apple and broke the window. If she were to die, it wasn't going to be in there.

Her figure slid out the window, a perfect fit and she was free.

Everywhere was numb courtesy of the adrenaline pumping through her veins like sprinters on a racetrack. Trying to kick her way up to the surface, she knew it was no use. Her body was wearing down on her and it didn't take a genius to know that it wouldn't take long for the water to take her on its way.

If the fight was there she could've made it, she would've fought until the last breath but she couldn't. So she embraced the feeling of knowing that she fought with everything she had and let herself be swept away by the current.

* * *

It all happened in slow motion. She had sensed a presence approaching her and spent the last shred of energy that she had left to drag her eyes open. Her vision was blurry, she couldn't make anything out. She felt something wrap around her arm and begin to drag her up but her time was running thin.

* * *

"COME ON! FIGHT DAMMIT FELICITY, FIGHT! YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO LEAVE ME, NOT NOW, NOT EVER!" Oliver roared while pushing down on her chest but she laid, sprawled out in front of him completely motionless, lifeless even but there was no way in hell he was giving up on her.

When he had seen her body just floating there in the water not far from the van, his entire world had stopped but when he saw how lifeless she looked everything came crumbling down. He couldn't lose her.

"Come on Felicity, please don't give up now" Digg pleaded desperately.

Working as a team, Oliver breathed out long breaths into her while Digg pressed down on her chest.

"FELICITY" Oliver sobbed out for her; every breath he breathed was for her praying she would come back again.

* * *

After what felt like eternity Felicity's eyes shot open and she lurched herself to the side away from both men, chucking up all the water she had inhaled.

Gasping down breaths, her eyes shut tight as she remembered everything and how close she'd been to that final line.

Somebody brought her back into a firm and solid surface; she didn't need to be told that it was Oliver. Piecing all of it together, he must've been the one to pull her out, the one who saved her yet again.

"Well this night has definitely been eventful…where the hell have you two been anyways?" Felicity found her voice.

"God's sake Felicity" Digg couldn't help the smile while Oliver dropped his head to her neck.

"What too soon?" she choked through a laugh, brightening up the night.

When Roy joined them all three of them were laughing and when he saw Felicity, it didn't take him long to join in either.

No matter what she went through, Felicity could never be brought down, she was the strongest one out of them all.


	18. Home Is Where The Heart Is

**I had a thought and went with it. - Shortest. Summary. Ever XD  
**

**Hope you guys enjoy this one, I enjoyed writing it.**

**As always please leave a review, tell me your thoughts x  
**

The second he stepped foot on the front yard of the house he once called home, he froze. Memories of his life, his childhood and awkward teenage years ransacked him, swamped his mind, his thoughts, his senses and leaving him with a sense of longing for it all to go back to normal but no matter what it could never return to how it once was. He felt empty and he why.

Oliver was the last remaining Queen.

His father, _dead_, his mother, _dead_, Tommy, who he always considered his brother was _dead _and his sister was off somewhere in the world trying to find her way, alone.

As he wandered through the halls and each of the rooms, he remembered happy and content pieces of his life when he was younger. Christmases spent as a family with Thea and him complaining over the amount of presents and the choice of films. Laughing at each other. Wild birthdays celebrated with each again year. Days with Tommy and him, their younger selves, rampaging through the house and causing absolute chaos.

Not once in his life had he considered life to be so short. He would do anything to go back to the time before that stupid boat, the Queens' Gambit. That was when his life officially ended, when 'Ollie' had perished beneath the waves and 'Oliver' had been born and had been forced to pick up the pieces of his life back in Starling after his time on that blasted island. Not a lot of people saw him for the changed man he claimed to be.

Thinking about it, only Felicity and Diggle knew him for him. _Felicity. _She never once judged him on his actions in the past, she only cared for the present and future. She never hated him even with all the opportunities she has rolling at her feet. _God_, how could he have been so blind? Ever since day 1 Felicity had been there for him every step of the way and in every aspect. She was the only person who never stopped believing in him, even if she was the only one, but none of that stopped her.

Laughter used to make the mansion come alive but now? It didn't feel at all like home, instead it felt like walking through somewhere that once used to make him feel safe. Now it just felt haunted, like walking through an old memory. He was the only once in the entire house, he was on his own to complete the remaining chapters in his life. Scenes continued to play out around him, excluding him from the events happening and making him feel like the outcast he was. He couldn't do this.

Not being able to stop himself, Oliver spun on his heel and all but dashed out of the front door as fast as his legs could carry him. Throwing his side over his bike, the engine roared to life as the Ducati carried him away from the house.

Oliver didn't need to stop and think about where he would go because his body was already making that decision for him. Right now he needed, _craved _comfort and that understanding he had spent ages looking for and there was only one person who could provide him with such warmth that just melted everything away.

That gentle and caring soul belonged to Felicity.

* * *

Showing up at her doorstep hadn't felt cold or haunting, it felt warm and inviting. When he saw Felicity standing there with her hair tumbling past her shoulders, spreading out and cascading in long waves topped off with an oversized MIT shirt and old jogging bottoms…it felt like home. He felt safe and loved there with her.

Felicity knew instantly that he was troubled from his expression alone. So she clutched one hand in her own and guided him in towards the couch. The second they were seated, Oliver clung to her, desperately seeking the warmth only she could provide. He collapsed into her, his head resting in her lap, tucked in beneath her arms.

He knew from that point on that he was home. They say that home is where the heart is, well his heart has always and will always lay with Felicity. She was his home, his family, his life. He owed it all to her, everything that he was had been because of her.

They just slept through the night in each other's arms. Felicity had grabbed a blanket she always had thrown over the back of her couch and wrapped it around them. Oliver came closer to her willingly. Snuggling against her further.

He didn't know a night where he had gotten such a good night's sleep.

* * *

A couple weeks following that night, Oliver had returned to the mansion to say his last goodbyes but this time Felicity was by his side. Not once did release his hold of her hand. He found it so much easier to walk the grounds once again with her by his side because no matter what life threw at them, she would always remain by his side and he would never let her go.


	19. A Wild Ride

**Sorry that I haven't been able to upload another chapter. The whole workload thing is completely throwing me off as well as ideas for each chapter to be entirely truthful with you guys but anyways before I forget _and I most likely will _the fanfic 'Secret Life' I'm putting on hold until after I've finished A Change of View and/or Forbidden Love so sorry to those of you who were waiting on another update of that. **

**So anyways here's a new chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it because I definitely enjoyed writing it and as always, please review and tell me your thoughts on this as I'd love to hear them.  
**

**Thank you x**

Fine she admits it, maybe this wasn't exactly the _best _idea she's ever had but right now she doesn't dwell on any of those kinds of thoughts.

Today had been tough on her and the sole route of the problem was the fact that they never allowed her to do _anything _where she could be hurt in the process. So basically all she was there for was tech support and she _hated _that in every way she can possibly think of, and believe her when she says _there's a lot of ways_.

So she had claimed that she was feeling fatigue from being behind the monitors for a long period of time during their mission and that she was going to head home when the corner of her eye caught the glimmer of Oliver's Ducati.

To be honest, Felicity was in desperate need of an adrenaline rush and something, _anything _to distract her from either marching back into the lair and shooting both men with their own weapons or going home and wrapping herself up in her favourite blanket and diving into yet another cartoon of Ben & Jerry's while watching an episode of Jeremy Kyle, wondering what she did wrong and she _loathed _that.

Not giving herself a chance to back out of the in-the-moment-decision, the engine roared to life as she just drove not sure where she was heading.

* * *

"Is it just me or was Felicity acting a little strange tonight?" Digg wondered aloud while cleaning his pistol.

"No I thought that as well, there was just something off about her" Oliver was fiddling around with his arrows, deciding to shoot a few tennis balls.

A beeping suddenly sounded from Felicity's monitors, heading over and seeing what it was he frowned when he saw her tracking device heading out of Starling. He swore he had seen her arrive in a cab, so he assumed something was wrong with her car but if that was so then how the hell was she moving that fast.

"Oliver what is it?"

"Felicity…her tracker says she's heading out of Starling at quite a high speed but I didn't see her car anywhere so how is she going that fast?"

"You don't think she's been taken do you?"

"I'll bring up the security cameras"

A second later they both watched in wonder and anger as Felicity drove off on one of Oliver's bikes.

"What the hell is she playing at?" he exclaimed, fury venting out of him. Why? That was the main question in his head.

"Keep the questions silent for now, let's just go get her…I'll drive the Bentley"

Oliver pulled out his phone to keep an eye on the tracker and Felicity.

* * *

The night whizzed by her as the wind combed through her hair.

This felt amazing to just feel the purr of the Ducati beneath her as adrenaline rushed through her system, it was just her and the bike no one else. Nothing else mattered and she loved every second of it.

She thanked her decision to where her yoga pants and oversized hoodie instead of a skirt and blouse, she hadn't been asked to come into work today so she took it as a comfort day but of course that was before the whole mission thing so yeah fun, because it allowed her to keep her warmth instead of the cold air rushing past to steal her heat.

Then something hit her.

She'd left her tracker on and if she went further than a certain distance it would alert the guys. _Dammit! _How could she forget about something she had persisted they all wear.

At first she was considering just bypassing the whole thing and turning back but at that current moment, she didn't want to. So she did the next best thing, turning down a dirt track Felicity looked for somewhere to stop and park the bike while she just took as much time as she had left to sit down and just relax but apparently the track had other things in store for her.

The surface of the track suddenly became bumpy and holes began appearing, sucking up the ground. As she ran over one of the pot holes, causing the bike to falter and throwing her off to the side.

Trying to land as soft as she could, Felicity landed on her left side and she heard the crack of a bone. Before she could do anything to stop it, a shriek escaped her throat. Clutching her wrist to her chest, she tried to will the pain away, cursing when it failed miserably.

Changing tactics, Felicity rolled over onto her uninjured side she pushed herself up onto her feet but instantly saw her mistake when a fire erupted in her right ankle. Shifting most of her weight onto her left foot, she began running over her options in her current situation when suddenly she heard the familiar sound of a Bentley.

Oh shit.

* * *

Hm. That's weird.

"Digg take the next left…why has she come here?"

"No clue"

"She's stopped"

"I think I know why" Oliver frowned at Digg, who then nodded ahead where they could see Felicity standing a few metres away from his Ducati, lying on its side.

"Felicity! What the hell?" Oliver shouted slamming the door before striding over to her.

Digg, meanwhile, was content with staying in the car. Not wanting to have _anything _to do with what, he thought, was going to be happening next.

Something he was picking up was the pain that Felicity was hiding well but he could see from her stance, her knew her far too well.

"Oh don't worry I didn't damage it" her remark received a glare from him. But she was telling the truth, there wasn't a single scratch on it.

Moving over to his bike, he mounted it before reaching to the front of the bike and pulling out a mini USB stick. Reaching into his pocket for his phone, he inserted the USB into the charging socket (he had once wondered out loud if she could design not only a USB stick that could plug into the charger socket in his phone, she'd considered it a challenge and the next day it was on his desk ready for use).

_Oh no _Felicity thought, _he's going to be finding out probably so LEG IT_. She now remembered that Oliver had told her that he wanted her to install a camera into the bike to keep track of it. How had she managed to forget that _as well?_

* * *

When Oliver was watching the video captured during the entire time, (well ever since he knew it had been 'borrowed' by Felicity) he hid the shock at how well she managed the powerful bike.

But when it showed her being thrown off (both he and Digg had seen the potholes in the road) and her shrieking out in pain (he could hear the crack of the bone) he shuddered and glanced up at Felicity's body now a speck in the distance.

Even from here he could tell she was slightly limping and already knew she was clutching her wrist to her chest because it's what your instincts tell you to do, to keep it from being even more injured.

Growling at her for being so stubborn and stopping to consider this might injure her further, he turned the bike on and went to catch up with her. Erasing any distance between them in seconds.

If she wanted stubbornness, he'd show her stubbornness.

* * *

_Fine _so what if she has a bruised ankle and broken wrist, she still doesn't need someone to baby her and what happens, he comes to cut her off from walking any further by parking the bike in front of her.

If she could cross her arms then she would have them crossed by now.

"Get on" Oliver grounded out, not leaving any room for arguments, "Felicity I swear to god if you don't get on this bike _right now_ then you're going to seriously regret it"

"I don't need to be babied I can take care of myself"

"And you're doing a brilliant job so far; you've broken your wrist, hurt your ankle probably bruised it, fell off a bike and bruised your entire body as well and don't bother trying to hide it from me I know out of everyone how to play that card"

"Then take a guess what I'm going to be saying next"

"Why won't you just let me take care of you?"

"Because it just makes me feel useless and completely helpless and vulnerable" when she tried to go around him, he cut her off again.

"You are not weak or helpless or useless, out of this team you're probably the most important one…besides I can do this all night also you may be forgetting that I'm not the one whose hurt, so what makes you think I won't just take advantage of that right here, right now?"

"I'm not the one who runs around in a green hood, I don't know, _saving the city_" her voice soaked to the core with sarcasm, "And you wouldn't because you'd know I'd never treat you the same after"

"Felicity!" she was pushing all of the right buttons right now and he knew what he would do if she pushed him too far. "Just get on the damn bike and let's just talk it out at home"

"And by that you mean, _once you get your ass on this bike I'm not going to be leaving you alone until every single injury on your body has healed and I think you don't know that as soon as we get back into Starling I'm probably not going to even allow you to walk on your own_, am I right?"

"Get…On…The…Damn…Bike…NOW!" the majority of the time; it's goddamn annoying that Felicity is the only one that isn't affected by any of his threats.

"Oliver, I'm not another one of your criminals…you can't intimidate me into doing anything that I don't want to do…but since it is the middle of the night and I feel like I can sleep for centuries, I'll get on the bloody bike…only on one condition though, no growly-Arrow voice/attempted-intimidation thing because it really doesn't work on me and _no _telling me what to do, don't think for a single second that I haven't taken care of myself on my own before, alright"

Reluctantly hobbling up to bike, before she could think about how she was going to get on, Oliver took care of that part. Boxing her in between his body and the handlebars, he didn't hesitate with hitting the gas and speeding back to what Felicity thought was the direction of the lair.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

Something neither one of them seemed to notice was that Digg had left about ten minutes before them to spend some time with Lyla.

* * *

Parking his bike in the garage, Oliver carried Felicity into his secluded home, which he had thought to purchase before everything went wrong and he lost the company.

It was located in a quiet part of the city, just on the outskirts of Starling. He brought her here because he wants to have her close, he also has a feeling he might be met by some unpleasant dreams but if he had her near him, it might brighten them up a bit.

"Why'd you bring me here?"

"Because I want you close to me"

"I told you I can take care of myself and it's not your fault I drove into a pothole, what are you going to do? Threaten it until it fills itself in?"

"Ha ha funny"

"Little bit, yeah"

"Besides you don't need to take care of yourself _alone _because now you have me"

"Oh joy, I get to be duct taped to the guest bed in case I decide to take a stroll"

"Well now that I think about it…"

"Oliver!"

"I'm not the one who deliberately put themselves in harm's way by driving off on the bike in the first place"

"What? Don't you think I can handle it? You have no idea what happened to me in my college days, who knows I could've become a deadly assassin and you wouldn't know about it"

All the time Oliver carried her to the living room, setting her down on the couch while retreating into the kitchen to grab the first aid kit and an emergency ice pack too. Sitting on the edge of the wide couch, he gestured for her wrist, which she still kept cradled close to her chest.

"Deadly assassins don't fall off their bikes because of potholes in the ground" he stated without looking her in the eyes.

Handling her wrist carefully, like touching the wings of a butterfly, with the upmost care possible.

* * *

Half an hour later Oliver had splinted her wrist and made a makeshift cast around it too he said he would give her a proper one tomorrow when they went back to the Foundry, and wrapped an ice pack round her ankle, to help with the recovery, and now they were both sitting on his bed watching reruns of Friends.

They were both laid out with their pillows propped up behind them, Felicity's injured ankle cushioned on a fluffy pillow. He wasn't too worried about the makeshift cast he had given her for her wrist because it supplied enough protection for keep her from harming her broken wrist further.

"So you learnt how to ride a bike during college then?" Oliver broke the silence with a question that hadn't been able to leave him alone all day.

Looking over at his curiosity peeling off around him, Felicity returned her gaze to the TV.

"Yeah but it didn't end so well" she huffed in amusement at the memory.

"Why, what happened?" he was curious by her reaction to the apparent _funny _memory.

Why did he have a feeling that it wasn't going to be funny in any way?

"Car collided with me from the side, didn't see him until it was too late. I think I was in hospital for about 6 months but all-in-all I got off pretty lucky and in case you're wondering, I find it funny how both times I was on the back of a bike they both ended badly" she clarified upon seeing his reaction to it, he looked like he'd been socked in the gut.

"Yeah you're right, remind me not to let you get on another bike without me or Digg knowing, just in case we have to call an ambulance"

"Oh aren't you hilarious" sarcasm etched over her voice.

"And don't you forget it" Oliver remarked, smirking down at her

"Don't think I'll be able to, you'd keep reminding me 24/7"

"You were right about one thing though" leaning down to whisper in her ear, Felicity keep the shiver at bay "I'm not going to be letting you walk on that ankle for a while, meaning I'm going to carry you everywhere just to annoy you"

"Oh goddammit"

Her and her big mouth, why couldn't she keep it shut? Now she was done for.

* * *

True to his word, there wasn't a time where Oliver actually let her walk on her ankle but just to annoy him, she pretended as if she actually enjoyed it.


	20. Never Say Never Again

**Sorry that I haven't been able to upload another chapter. The whole workload thing is completely throwing me off as well as ideas for each chapter to be entirely truthful with you guys but anyways before I forget _and I most likely will _the fanfic 'Secret Life' I'm putting on hold until after I've finished A Change of View and/or Forbidden Love so sorry to those of you who were waiting on another update of that. **

**So anyways here's a new chapter, I hope you enjoy reading it because I definitely enjoyed writing it and as always, please review and tell me your thoughts on this as I'd love to hear them.  
**

**Thank you x**

The sound of their rushed footsteps echoed around the hallway as they hurried through, towards the rooftops for their best chance at escaping.

It was his entire fault, he never should've brought her here in the first place. Diggle or Roy should be here, not Felicity. Anything could go wrong and honestly he wasn't even sure if there was anything he could do to stop any of it from happening.

The second they burst out of the door leading to the roof, everything seemed to whizz past leaving their actions to play out in slow motion.

Once atop the roof, Oliver shot an arrow with a line attached to it into the building nearest them and wrapped his arm about her waist, pulling her close, before sending the pair of them flying through the air.

However, the one account they weren't counting on was the men that were chasing them to follow them up to the roof then shoot the line, cutting them off mere metres from safety.

As they fell Oliver's arm released its grip from the place around her waist so she was left to free fall alone. She could feel the g-force slamming against her face.

She will never be able to say how but one second they're both falling and the next Oliver's hand is securing him on the ledge of a window while his other hand catches her flailing arm and slides down to firmly grasp her hand in his.

Looking up, Felicity saw the strain the combined weight was having on Oliver as it was evident on his face. Glancing over at where the men had last been seen. She saw how they had just disappeared, probably content with their actions and the fact that they most likely would fall to their deaths.

Felicity didn't need to be a genius to know that she was going to be the death of Oliver. She was going to bring him down with her.

She knew what she had to do.

"Oliver! Oliver you have to let me go!" trying to keep her voice from breaking at the hurtful truth, Felicity remained strong.

From the way his head snapped down at her, his pupils blown full.

"What! NO! I'm not going to let you fall to your death! If I let go, you're dead, there's no way you can survive that!"

"I know but we don't have another choice here! If you don't let me go then we both go down! It's either me or both of us Oliver! You have to let me go!"

"NO! We'll find another way out of this! There is always another way!" tears were evident in his voice, removing that strength that had always supported his tone. He was slowly crumbling down.

"Oliver, there's no other way" she partially whispered up to him.

"Yes there is, there's got to be another way! I'm not letting you go Felicity, I can't lose you!" the tears made themselves known as a few escaped and trailed down his cheeks, splashing against her skin. "Please, don't do this Felicity. I need you, I can't lose you. Not now, not ever" his strength was fading and he didn't care.

That alone caused her to strain at the thought of him being effected by her possible death but there was no way out of this. She would _not _bring him down with her if the worst happened.

Felicity knew that Oliver would never let go of her hand. That was the problem. He could never make that kind of decision.

So she made it for him.

Releasing her grip on his hand, she was met with resistance when his grip only tightened to the point of pain. His grasp had now become a vice around her own. She couldn't escape now.

DAMMIT OLIVER!

"FELICITY! DON'T YOU DARE LET GO!" he screamed down at her. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if she was afraid of dying or just simply letting go of his hand.

"I WILL NOT BRING YOU DOWN WITH ME!" she cried back, tears battling to get out.

At this point, Felicity was avoiding eye contact with him. If she so much as glanced for second into his deep blue eyes, she wouldn't be able to go through with this.

Oliver was panicking, not sure what to do but he was sure on one thing. He was not letting her fall. He didn't care if he hurt her now, if it saved her from dying he was glad to do it. Looking up at the ledge, his eyes scanned for any possible ways to haul them both up to safety.

That's when he heard it, the sound that was like music to his ears.

"OLIVER, GRAB MY HAND!"

Glancing up, Oliver's heart somersaulted when his gaze fell upon Digg reaching down, hand outstretched with Roy stopping him from falling out.

"I'm going to send Felicity up first!" he called out to the rest of his team.

"Hurry!" was Digg's only reply.

"Felicity grab Digg's hand" the only thing he said before hauling her up to his chest with his remaining strength.

_Getting Felicity to safety _was his number one priority, then he'd worry about himself.

Banding his arm round her legs, Oliver began hoisting Felicity up towards Diggle.

"Okay Felicity I got you!"

When Felicity was safe inside the building and Digg turned his attention to Oliver, he released a breath he didn't know he was holding.

When Oliver was safely inside the building too, he saw Felicity's body completely tensed up and he knew she was trying to stop herself from shaking.

* * *

The minute they all entered the Foundry, Felicity of course in front making a beeline to the safety of her computers, Oliver knew no matter how hard he tried that he wouldn't be able to stop the words from escaping his mouth before he could do anything to stop them.

"What the hell were you thinking!" stalking towards her, Felicity's attention turned her around in his direction.

"What are you talking about?" frowning, she was confused about what he was so pissed about.

"When we were hanging there, you let go of my hand Felicity! Why in the world, _how _in the world could you be so stupid!" he was clearly outraged and was doing nothing to stop it.

"_Stupid? _How was that stupid! I knew that if Digg and Roy hadn't been there only one of us could've survived, if I held on then we'd both go down so I picked the easier option out of the two!"

Her statement did nothing to aid his fury, it only proceeded to stoke at the fire even more.

"EASIER! That is complete and utter bullshit! When you're in situations like those you don't give up! You keep fighting!" word by word, Oliver was removing any distance between the two of them.

If Felicity or Oliver were in their right minds that moment they would've realised that both Digg and Roy had both left to leave the two to act like a married couple.

"Oliver if I hadn't of let go then you would've came down with me! So please enlighten me, how is the stupid, how is keeping you alive stupid?" Felicity yelled, not deterred by the fact of how close Oliver was in her personal space.

"Because my life isn't worth nearly as much as yours!"

"That is a complete and utter LIE! My life isn't as valuable as yours, I'm not the one who protects and saves this city, _you _do. You can always get another I.T nerd in here to do what I do as tech support! You can't replace you or Digg, heck even Roy! You always say how you're so broken when guess what, another lie, you're not broken just lost trying to find your way and dying isn't going to help things one bit! I will _never _apologise for what I did today because I'm _not sorry_ one bit for trying to protect you alright! You once made a promise to always protect me and are there for me well guess what, this is me doing the exact same thing for you! So for once in your life stop being an arrogant, overbearing dick and just stop putting others before you, think about yourself for a while!Remember what I told you about my father, about how he left me. I'm trying to stop anyone else that I care for, who I love from taking that route and disappearing from my life, I'm defending those I care about and yes that includes you! So don't lie to my face with crap like that when we both know the truth and if you don't mind, I'm going home because right now I feel like I'm going to collapse in a puddle on the floor!"

The words flooded out from her like a river and Felicity didn't make a single move to take any of them back.

After she finished, Oliver looked like he'd seen a ghost from the effect her words had on him. Before giving it a second thought to stop herself, Felicity spun on her heel, grabbed her bag and stormed out of the Foundry, leaving Oliver in her wake completely motionless.

She didn't think about the events that had happened while she drove home. How she made it home safely and without breaking any speeding barriers.

* * *

Minutes later after getting home, Felicity was curled up on her couch in front of the TV trying not to dwell on the memory of practically hanging by a thread.

The sound of her window opening gained her attention from the screen to the dark figure striding out of her bedroom towards her.

Not again.

Moving in front of her, Oliver blocked out the entire screen so she was left to solely focus on him and nothing else. It was then she realised he was still dressed in his hood but had ditched the mask.

"You do not get to leave like that, with things left unsaid"

"Honestly I don't really care right now Oliver because I'm too busy unwiring from the events from earlier, so can we just talk about this tomorrow?"

"No…look Felicity, what you said to me earlier you have to know that I wasn't lying to you-" when she went to turn her head away from him, closing her eyes in the process, his hands flashed out and cradled her face "-I would never lie to you"

"So you haven't run out of sports bottles yet?" raising her eyebrow pointedly, Felicity looked at him in exasperation.

"You know what I mean…yes I promised to protect you with my life and I will keep that promise in any way I can but today when we were just hanging there and you gave up, I couldn't take it. I couldn't take the fact that you would _willingly_ give up _everything_ you have, everything you are for _me_. So I'm sorry I snapped at you today but when somebody you love does something like that, you say something about it and as for the remark about the I.T nerd nonsense, you are the heart of this team. Without you nobody would know what to do, everyone would slowly fall apart and there is nothing on this Earth that you can convince me otherwise. There is nobody that could ever replace you Felicity. _Ever_"

Going to respond, Felicity was cut off by Oliver's mouth covering her own in a passionate and meaningful kiss full of promises and hopes.

The way they had both felt at the thought of almost losing one another was clearly evident in the way they fused together and were carried away by the love they had for each other.

Never in his life had Oliver been so afraid. He rarely ever got scared. He had rules for this sort of thing but those rules flew out the window as Felicity brought her arms to wrap around his neck as his own banded tightly about her waist.

Breaking apart to breath, not once did either one of them make a move to release their grip on the other.

"Promise me something" locking contact with her sky blue eyes, Oliver soon realised that he had lost his way ages ago in those two blue orbs and now there was no going back.

"Never say never again"

"I promise"

Just like that they became so caught up in each other, not once did they ever separate for the entire night.


	21. Where there's Light, Darkness Follows

**I know that I haven't updated for a while so here's something to quench your thirst for more Olicity XD**

**With this fanfic, the idea appeared and would _not _leave me alone so I decided to see how it went so I hope you guys like this one because I enjoyed writing it and I love the storyline of it.**

**But anyways as always please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. **

**Thank you x**

**P.S. I think I may have had a few stray tears leak out :P**

She was never sure when it all became so normal to her but in the space of the few years she'd been working alongside Oliver the sounds of metal clanging together and grunts and groans and even wood colliding with both wood and fists and even skin. It was a soundtrack that quickly became her life.

The sounds were oddly comforting after a hard day's work and served as a melody, a lullaby. So when the symphony of her fingers on the keyboard, Oliver doing sets on the Salmon Ladder, Digg humming along to an old tune while cleaning his guns and Sara sparring with Roy ricocheted around in the Foundry, it didn't feel strange at all, it felt like home.

The new sound of her phone ringing caused Felicity to reach out blindly to the side of her work station.

"Hello?"

"Lizzie?" the masculine voice got her full attention as she transferred her phone from its position of being wedged between her ear and shoulder to her hands, putting her task on hold for the time being.

Oblivious to the fact that the majority of the team's attention was partially revolved on her, Felicity resumed her phone call without fault.

"Hayden?" she said with a smile plastered on her face and it was evident in her voice too.

"Yeah it's me"

"What's up?"

"…um, well I'd hate to be the one to tell you this Lizzie" the pause in his sentence wasn't lost on her.

Tensing up, the team couldn't help but glance over at her when they heard the hesitation in her voice, knowing it was only used in bad times or when the situation grew serious.

"What's wrong?"

"Oh God, they found it Lizzie, they've found the car" and just like that her entire life came down, shattering to bits "-but they haven't found her body" that was the finishing blow.

She couldn't breathe. It felt like she was slowly dying from that restriction that pressed down on her, being replaced from years ago. A weight that was all too familiar.

It hurt.

The sound of her brother's voice on the phone was blurred out, combining with those of her friends'. Everything just froze around her. For years now she had carried a dark secret that she had tried to bury years ago, a secret that nobody knew the full truth of, a secret that would never stop haunting her.

Her vision tunnelled down to Oliver's face as he spun her chair round to face him, dropping her phone to her lap in the process, ultimately ending the call.

"Felicity talk to me, what's wrong?" his voice was unmuted and she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out, before she could do anything to stop them.

"They still haven't found her" her pulse was all over the place as her mind was plagued with memories of her, thoughts, feelings of what happened that night.

The fear swarmed her as it had done once before, constricting her of needed oxygen, at the fact that there was nothing she could've done, but the reminder still remained. It should have been her that had perished, it was all her fault. She should've saved the person she had once called her sister or died trying.

"Haven't found who? What are you talking about Felicity?" she was going to have to tell them what happened, to relive it, she was going to have to die once again.

Warmth evaded her senses. _No _she shouldn't be feeling warmth; she should feel the cold, the emptiness of her existence.

"Felicity, breathe, you're having a panic attack…you have to calm down otherwise you're going to hurt yourself"

She knew that but that's the thing. She _wants _to hurt herself. She doesn't want to be saved because nobody had saved _her_. She wanted to go through the same pain that she did when she left everything and everyone behind, when that fear of death looked her square in the face as it slowly consumed her, leaving her with nothing but darkness.

"I failed to save my best friend" tears ran down her cheeks, marking the skin.

"What are you talking about?" Oliver frowned as he wiped her tears before cradling her face in his hands, forcing her to focus on nothing but him.

"She's dead"

With that everything that Felicity had once known came down on her like a ton of bricks, trapping her and leaving her with no escape this time. This time it will not be ignored, this time she wouldn't get away so easily.

Locking her eyes tight, she made a poor attempt at controlling her breathing but failed when the fear made itself known.

When a pinch sensation vibrated through her arm, her eyes shot open to see a syringe inserted in her left arm. Turning wild eyes to Oliver's, he immediately spoke up about the sudden actions.

"We had no choice, this sedative with help…trust me"

Trying to shift herself away from him, she was immediately met by resistance when his arm was suddenly banding themselves around her waist and shoulders, holding her close to him.

"Felicity…calm down"

How can he ask her to calm down with something like this, he doesn't even know what happened?

The sedative finally started to take effect, draining her of her energy. Instantly Oliver gathered her up into his arms and carried her to the couch on the other side of the Foundry, making sure to place her phone safely on her work station. When it started ringing again, Digg was the one to answer.

Felicity only managed to hear snippets of the conversation from what Digg was saying.

They were introduced and apparently Hayden was explaining how he needed her to come home so they can all pay their respects but also they wanted Felicity to be with them in the time when they found something that still held such significance to Felicity, since she was part of the whole nightmare.

* * *

It took a couple minutes for Felicity to regain her senses again but not once had Oliver left her side, waiting for her to come back.

"Hey"

"Hey, have you been waiting here the entire time?"

"I couldn't leave knowing what happened"

"Thanks"

"Felicity, why did you freak out earlier when you were on the phone?"

Looking at him, could she really tell him? Could she relive the experience over again? Would it remind him too much of what happened with Tommy? He had the right to know, he had revealed his huge secret to her, he had trusted her and now it was her turn.

It was then Felicity actually realised that they weren't alone. Digg, Sara and Roy were sitting in the remaining computer chairs, waiting for an explanation for what happened.

Taking several deep breaths to centre herself, she revealed the secret she had been carrying for a little over seven years now.

"…som-something happened…a couple years ago…it had quite an effect on me" shifting herself up into a sitting position.

Felicity pulled her knees up to her chest, curling up on herself in case something would have an impact on her.

"Felicity, we're here for you if you need us" Sara voiced herself into the conversation, getting a smile in response.

Closing her eyes again, preparing herself for what was to come, and for the first time in seven years, she opened up and relived what happened that night.

"Seven years ago my best friend, Hayley, and I were on our way back from a party and we didn't even see it before it all happened. At the time we were on the bridge going back home and…our car…was hit by a drunk driver, the force alone sent us over the side and into the river below…" the sound of gasps met her ears but she pushed on, she _needed _to get this out before she backed out of it altogether, opening her eyes Felicity focused on the edge of the couch, avoiding any eye contact "…I lost consciousness the second we hit the surface of the water…when I woke up we were sinking down to the riverbed and the water was so murky I couldn't see anything. I started to panic but Hayley stopped me before it got too bad, telling me to calm down, to breathe…that_ I _was getting out of there. We worked as a team to break one of the windows. The water just began to flood us, like it was taunting us. Hayley undid my seatbelt and shoved me out of the window; I couldn't see anything but I didn't stop kicking. After I surfaced I dove back down for Hayley…I…" this was the part when it got corrupt for her.

Seeing how she was struggling with the next part, Oliver grasped her hand in his but she still felt nothing but it didn't stop the way her hand tightened around his, using it as an anchor to reality.

"…when I got there, I didn't need to be a genius to tell that she was close to dying…the second before-before she passed…she looked at me and smiled…smiled because I was the one that was alive and that she was the one in pain" tears began to blur her vision but she couldn't stop there, they needed to know the next part too.

"I didn't know what to do…I just froze…the worst part was when I saw how she was clutching her necklace that I gave her, we made each other necklaces and promised one another that we wouldn't take them off…I couldn't stop staring at her and how I was never going to see her again…I just didn't want to do anything so I swum back inside the car and stayed with her, clutching her hand like a lifeline to her…I didn't want to live anymore I just wanted to die alongside her, so I didn't make any move to try and surface. The rescue team were the ones to pull me out of the car…if they hadn't have pulled me out when they did, I would be dead right now…after that point I don't remember what happened…the next thing I know I'm waking up in the emergency room after six months in extensive care…after that point, life just seemed to cease to exist so I made the decision to bury everything that related to her, we had a funeral for her but it was an empty casket and it hurt so much at knowing that we weren't putting her to rest that she was still out there drifting somewhere in that damn river and all these years later they managed to find the car…but her body wasn't there…after everything that happened, I just couldn't wear the necklace anymore after a couple months…it was like it was saying why I was still alive when she was dead"

"Felicity none of that was your fault but it makes sense as to why you acted like you did earlier" Digg was the first one to speak after her explanation while Oliver only tightened his grasp on her hand, but not to the point of pain.

After she had released the burden that had been placed on her shoulders all those years ago, she felt free to not have to be the only one to know the full truth. Nobody had known about how she stayed down there with Hayley even after she died.

The team decided to call it a night, leaving Felicity alone with Oliver where they'd left them on the couch.

"Do you want to go back there?" Oliver was the one to break the silence with a question she hadn't stopped asking herself.

"…honestly? Yeah, I want to get over this whole thing and finally put her memory to rest…she deserves that after everything that's happened"

"Felicity, I know I have no business in what happened but if you want me to, I don't mind being there with you if you do go back" his statement made her snap her gaze to his.

"You'd really do that for me?"

"Course I would, I can understand how it all affected you like that because of what I went through with Tommy and with you telling me about Hayley, it made me realise just how strong you truly are to go through something like that again, with how you helped me with his death…so thank you for that, it was refreshing to have somebody with me every step of the way…even if I did wuss out and run back to the island"

"Oliver you can't blame that on yourself, that was your way of handling the situation as best you could…you didn't know how else to deal with it, so you went somewhere where you did know how to handle and I understand your actions even if you don't"

"You're remarkable you know that?"

"Thanks for remarking on it and how could I possibly forget?"

* * *

The next day, Felicity was packed up and on the road back to her childhood home with Oliver and Digg along for the ride, leaving Sara and Roy to keep tabs on the city so that Arrow and Black Canary still make appearances over town to make sure nobody links Arrow up to Oliver Queen because he doesn't show himself when Oliver leaves town.

* * *

The second they arrive at her childhood home, she took a while to breathe all of it in before entering the house, Felicity was the victim of a vertical dog pile by her younger sisters, brothers and cousins. It was only when they saw Oliver and Digg that they began to introduce themselves to each other but during the introductions Felicity managed to sneak off upstairs.

When Oliver and Digg joined her, they spotted her on the floor with albums, marked 'Forever Friends' on the front cover, scattered all over the floor around her. Without a second thought, they shifted a few of them before sitting down beside her and letting her show them every memory they housed.

* * *

The week following that day was completely lost to Felicity, mostly due to the fact that the police officer that had taken charge of Hayley's case and taken care of Felicity had popped round to let them all know that the case had never been closed, they hadn't stopped searching to put Hayley at rest. When he saw Felicity, he smiled and stated how it was good to see her. He had become like an old friend to her during the time she had once considered a nightmare.

* * *

"FELICITY! HAYDEN! ANYONE!" a voice shrieked from down the stairs, gaining Felicity's attention from where she was in her room with Oliver and Digg discussing the night time activities to get the majority of the focus off Hayley.

Running down the stairs with both guys in tow, Felicity saw one of her brothers frantically searching for anyone.

"Dean? What is it?" her voice snapped him in her direction.

"It's Sammy, he went to the river to try and see if he could do anything to help but forgot that he couldn't actually swim properly…Hayden's with him, he told me to get help, I didn't know what to do"

Before Felicity even knew, her legs were carrying her down the rest of the stairs and out the front door, towards the place she never thought she would go to again. If she had taken the time to glance behind her, she would've seen how all Digg, Oliver and Dean were right behind her the entire time.

Never in her life had she ran as fast she had when she heard that Sammy had purposely put himself in such a position to help _her_.

Getting to her destination, in one fluid movement Felicity removed her jacket and shoes before diving into the river. Closing down all the thoughts that told her that this wasn't a good idea, she focused on getting her brother to safety.

Plunging into the murky depths of the river, Felicity managed to make out the silhouette of Sammy's figure bobbing about in the water a distance from her position.

Not caring about how the memories of that night came flooding back or how every impulse told her to run as far as possible from that place where her best friend perished but none of which were stronger than that instinct to save her brother.

Kicking her way to him, Felicity wrapped her arms around his small figure and began pulling him up to the surface but was halted when a glimpse of an object caught the corner of her eye.

Changing tactics, Felicity sunk to Sammy's feet and propelled him up the rest of the way.

Seeing how he was now safe, she turned to see what the object was that caught a fraction of her attention but when she saw how it was enveloped in the contents of the riverbed, Felicity felt the fear return in the blink of an eye.

This was not happening.

* * *

Oliver and Digg were waiting patiently on the bank of the river with Hayden and Dean, eyes scanning the surface of the water for any signs of either party.

Seeing a shadow beneath the water made their breath catch in their throats. The second Sammy came bursting through the top was like a refreshing breeze washing over them until they saw how Felicity wasn't making an appearance behind him.

Hayden ran into the water to fetch Sammy and carry him to the bank but not before Sammy gasped out how Felicity was still under. This alone was enough for Oliver to remove his jacket and shoes before running into the river and diving below after the woman he wasn't about to allow to go through the experience again.

She was right, the murky water made it hard for him to see anything below the surface but his keen eyes were able to see Felicity from the amount of time they spent together, to recognised her blonde hair floating around her like a halo.

Swimming over to her position, he saw how she was frozen and when he saw where she was looking he knew why.

* * *

She couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. Why?

Submerged in the riverbed lay the skeleton of her best friend, the necklace still fastened to her neck floating above her skull.

Her mind registered the fact that Oliver was there and was now pulling her up and away from the sight. Gasping down oxygen, Felicity blinked frantically to try to hide the tears.

"Felicity?" it was then Felicity noticed how his arms were holding her to him, his powerful legs taking a hand at keeping them both above the water.

"I can't leave her Oliver, not like this" he understood the second the words had left her mouth.

With the both of them diving back down to her, they worked as a team to release her from the hold the riverbed had on her. Felicity had a firm grip of her friends- her sister's –skeleton as she took it up to the surface,

When they broke through again, this time they saw how there were cars parked atop the bridge and how there were different men in uniforms gathered at the bank beside Digg, who was seemingly filling them in on what had happened.

Oliver and Felicity carried her skeleton carefully towards the bank and into a black body bag, which then carried her off as a towel was wrapped around her shoulders but she couldn't seem to take her eyes off the car that now carried her best friend towards the cemetery.

"Felicity?" Oliver's voice was joined by his actions as he brought her back into his chest while he banded his arms around her waist.

Allowing herself to lean into his embrace, she couldn't help but smile at the thought of how Hayley's memory is finally going to be freed, how she is finally going to be able to rest in peace.

* * *

After a couple days they all decided to give her a proper funeral, to dig up her empty casket and place her remains in there.

Her funeral followed a few days afterwards and honestly Felicity was truly dreading it but at the same time she couldn't be more happy that all the memories of her best friend, her sister could be put at rest and that alone was enough for her.

* * *

When the men gently laid her coffin into the ground, housing one of the most important people in her life, Felicity couldn't help the tears that strayed down her cheeks.

Gladly giving a speech on the memories they shared and how Hayley would've wanted everyone to be happy for her and not be moping around which gained a round of a laughs from the parties present at the funeral, Felicity was the first person to throw a rose into her grave followed shortly by Oliver, Digg and the rest of her family.

As everyone departed from the cemetery, Felicity stayed behind to share a few personal words with Hayley.

"Thank you for everything you've done for me Hayley, for that I will never forget you…I'm just sorry that you had to die so young and with your whole life ahead of you. I can't stop believing in how it should've been me that died that night but just…thank you, thank you for saving me. I can't thank you enough for being there for me when I needed you. Rest in peace Elle" tears stained her cheeks once again but she didn't care.

Turning to her boys waiting for her by the car, Felicity thanked her lucky stars that she had such caring friends.

As she took one more glance back to the grave, a gentle gust of wind met her and she swore she heard the words 'thank you'. It didn't take her another second to figure the depths of the words.

Smiling, Felicity entered the car taking up the empty seat alongside Oliver. The car set off towards the house at Digg's command.

As they passed a place Felicity and Hayley used to dedicate their childhood to, the park seemed to come alive as the swing softly swayed back and forth and it was then Felicity saw how the memory she had of Hayley would never die as long as she was alive.

Maybe there was light where darkness was found to be.


	22. Buried

**Before anyone asks why the hell I decided to write this, I wanted to experiment and I kind of dared myself to try this idea out so yeah that's the reason behind the whole story. Hope you lot still enjoy it though.  
**

**Any prompts you want me to try (_please anything but gender benders) _and write I will be glad to accept the challenge and see where my wild and extremely vivid imagination takes me. Sometimes its interesting the ideas that come to me in life. Don't ask where this one came from because I don't know if I can actually remember to be honest. **

**But anyways as always please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. **

**Thank you x**

The sound of her heavy breathing ricocheted around the small gloomy space as she tried to regain her senses. Everything was pitch black and it smelled like death, _not like she actually knew what that smelled like, or wanted to know what that smelled like_.

It all felt like a nightmare caused, most likely, by her earlier life in LA. Speaking of which, was this actually real or was it just a strange type of dream conjured up from the depths of her brain?  
She couldn't see anything but darkness, which brought on the questions. _Where the hell was she and what the hell happened to her?_

Closing her eyes, Felicity attempted to remember what in fact had happened to result in her being placed in this situation. Nothing. She remembered absolutely nothing. _Oh gee, that's so helpful._

Upon feeling a small pressure against her thigh, she soon realised she must've had her phone in her pocket the entire time. _Thank God! _Reaching down to retrieve her phone, Felicity pulled it out and went straight to her contacts. The question of whether this was at all a good idea was unknown to her but if it meant that she could get out of here then so be it.

"Felicity? What's up?" Oliver's chipper voice answered on the first call.

"…err, hey Oliver…by any chance are you still in the Foundry?"

"Yeah, why?" the apprehension evident in his voice, she had to try to be cool about this.

"Um well, you're probably going to think I'm crazy but I woke up and it seems I'm kind of…well, stuck somewhere dark"

"What? Where are you?"

"That's the thing, I don't know"

"Do you remember anything about how you got there?" she could hear him moving, probably going over to the computers to track her phone to find her.

"No, not really…I tried remembered and I can't…I can't-" before she could stop it, a muffled scream escaped her throat.

"Felicity! What is it?" he was growing anxious, she didn't need to be a genius to figure that out at least.

Fear overwhelmed her, possessing her off every calm and rational thought she had in her mind, and moulded itself into a beacon.

Whilst speaking with Oliver, the glow from her phone had dully lit up the area now housing her and her eyes locked eyes with a man. A _dead _man.

"Felicity? Talk to me" from the sounds coming through her phone, which she could barely manage to hear over the frantic thudding of her heart in her throat, Oliver had caught the attention of the rest of the team and they were awaiting her response.

"…there's someone else in here…" Felicity whispered, dread encasing her relentlessly. In that one moment she didn't really care if she they could all her hear her distress, this was terrifying.

"What are you talking about, aren't you alone…..Felicity?" Oliver asked again, they could probably hear how thick her voice had become.

"…oh my god…." muttering into the atmosphere, unaware that she still held her phone in her hand.

She could feel tears brimming in the corners of her eyes. Scrambling to firmly grasp hold of her phone, unable to do the simple act of stilling her hands which shook like leaves in the wind, Felicity used the dull light to search for not only to find out where she actually was but also a way out. It finally dawned on her where she actually was when her gaze fell upon the surface that was running around the perimeter of the space.

She was in a coffin underground, _buried alive_. This definitely was a nightmare at its worst.

"Felicity?"  
"…coffin…I'm in a coffin…and I'm not alone" Felicity spluttered out as if drowning at the knowledge alone.

"Jesus…alright, Felicity you're going to have to keep calm okay Felicity…stay calm, we're coming to get you"

"…Oliver…it's not a skeleton"

"Felicity, focus on something else…focus on my voice and divert your eyes to something else…we're on our way"

No matter what Oliver said, she still couldn't help the way she now felt her body right up against the dead man's body. The worst part? Her brain had connected the dots she had revealed since she woke, she had slept against a dead body.

Series of shivers travelled down her spine at the thoughts her mind was plagued with.

Rearing back as far as possible, a sudden cold spike of air caused her to jolt and it had a chain effect because her abrupt movements had an effect on the body. His arms came up to her waist and now his weight was pressing her body down against his, limiting her movements further and restricting her from the ability to breathe or to even at least keep the rational thoughts. A whimper broke its way through her teeth, she was sure she was doing damage to herself but at this point, she didn't care.

"Felicity, you're okay, you're alright...we're going to get you out of there as soon as we can"

"…Oliver…I can't move"

"I know, stop thinking and just relax, focus your mind on something else instead, something strong…like your computers"

"No, Oliver I mean I really can't move….his arms….they're on my back…I can't move" stuttering out in one breath. She felt like she wanted to scream and run as far as she could from that place.

"We're almost there, we're almost there…you just have to hold on a little longer" she knew that but she couldn't.

Fear was everywhere she looked. _He _was everywhere she looked. She couldn't do this anymore.

Before Felicity could even register what she was doing, her limbs began to fight against the man's hold, rearing back once again but meeting resistance only making her fight even more.

Bit by bit it felt like the walls were closing in on her, constricting all the air clean out of her lungs leaving her with the inability to breathe properly, instead her breath came out in short bursts.

* * *

She wasn't even sure if it was truly real or not or if it was just her imagination, her brain playing tricks on her but nonetheless a voice called out to her and if the voice hadn't gone through her phone too then she would've been convinced that it wasn't real, that she was just making it up but it was Oliver.

"Felicity!"

Not caring if she awoke the whole damn cemetery, Felicity replied to his pleading calls to her. It didn't take him long to find the source of her voice, digging up the grave like a pack of dogs eager to recover the hidden treasure buried beneath the soil.

Light abruptly filled the small space as she felt hands over her, yanking her out of the coffin and off the man whose peace had been corrupted at this little escapade.

The second fresh air swarmed her hungrily; Felicity couldn't help the way her body scurried backwards away from the grave. Kicking herself further and further away from the now heaped soil in two mounds either side of the hole. _Huh, more like hell hole_.

Arms were around her in the next moment, pulling her into a safe embrace and effectively blocking her view off from the grave altogether.

Gasping down air greedily, it was only when a voice spoke that she was broken out of her fear-stricken state of mind.

"Felicity! Breathe, you're alright…you're okay now, just breathe" through his words came a sense of relief and a sense of safety.

Not once when she was trapped down there had she even realised that it had turned night, the midnight sky looming over them and covering them all like a shadow, or that she had been missing from her bed for hours on end with the members of her team in the impression she was safely tucked in.

The next events taking place she was aware of but they didn't register to her mind in full force like they typically did. Oliver removed his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, surrounding her in his scent which to her instantly implied safety, whilst gathering her up into his arms and waltzing off towards the van, the rest of the team staying behind to fill in the grave they had interrupted.

She must've been more tired than she thought because when Oliver sat in the back of the van with Felicity secured firmly to his chest, her head was pillowed in the crook of his neck with her eyes locked shut, fast asleep.

Between both his jacket and the heat seeping out of his body, it honestly felt like she was sleeping in front of a fire.

* * *

That night Oliver hadn't allowed Felicity out of his sight unless it was completely necessary and because of his presence during the night Felicity slept soundly. In her dreams was a man strangely alike the one she had been an acquaintance to for the previous couple hours however, he didn't scare her or assert fear into her dream instead they spoke to one another, exchanging simple words. It had a sense of peace and contentment along with it.

* * *

Oliver and the team worked to find out who in fact had played with Felicity's mind in such a way while staying quiet for a certain sleeping I.T girl on Oliver's cot in the corner of the Foundry, all the while a certain vigilante watched over her from the corner of his eye but she didn't make so much as a peak the entire time bringing along a sense of relief that she hadn't taken it in such a bad way to plague her with nightmares whenever she closed her eyes.

"I've found him…he calls himself the 'Grave Digger', he buries his victims in graves with corpses but all are random, they don't have a pattern. Felicity was just in the wrong place at the wrong time but what happened we won't know unless Felicity remembers…oh and what do we have here? Looks like somebody is going out in search of another victim"

"I got this" Sara stated while making her way over to the stairs, Roy trailing behind.

"Let's go get this little bugger"

"Oliver?" Digg brought Oliver's centre of attention from the sleeping woman in his bed to his team-mate.

"Hmm…what?"

"Don't worry about catching the bastard Sara and Roy are on it"

"I wasn't worried"

"Make sure you look after her, I'm going to head out to Lyla…I'm sure the two will be back soon"

"Night John"

"Night….night Felicity" he said as he walked over to her sleeping form and laid a kiss on her forehead before heading out.

* * *

After both Sara and Roy headed out after John, Oliver took up the space beneath Felicity's head and let sleep claim him. Resting his hand on her shoulders, he cushioned his head on the back of the couch and closed his eyes.


	23. When Strength Becomes Survival

**So I know this is like the third update while other fanfics haven't been but I promise I'm working on them but for the time being you're just going to have to put up with my promise that they'll be up soon, I've just been busy with so many things so yeah. Fun huh?**

**Anyays I was reading this fanfic about Olicity being out in the cold and no I can't remember what it was called or what it was about, all I remember is that so I decided to put my own twist on it and write one of my own, including the team in a mission out in the cold where the situation gets a little interesting. **

**If any of you have prompts, I'm more than glad to accept them and turn them into a masterpiece of their own. **

**But anyways as always please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. **

**Thank you x**

When Strength Becomes Survival

Twigs and broken branches snapping beneath her feet were completely lost on her, only the sound of her footsteps propelling her through the dense forest, towards what though. She wouldn't know. The only thing she was aware of in that moment was that she needed to keep pushing forward to avoid capture from the men in hot pursuit behind her and that she needed somewhere in which she could somehow contact her team through the partially broken walkie-talkie collected from one of the soldiers knocked out cold in the process.

Cold.

That was the only thing that seemed to be around for miles, the temperature plummeting to god knows what. There might as well be snow everywhere it felt like the right climate for snow.

Hoping, _no praying_, that the rest of her team got out, Felicity never stopped running, dodging incoming trees.

_Earlier they had broken into the lair of a deadly assassin and the only reason why she'd been allowed to come was due to the fact that nobody had her expertise when it came to technology. _

_They had been nearly caught there and then if it wasn't for her quick thinking and skills to hack into the tech of the men surrounding them and blowing a fuse, electrocuting them all to the ground instantly and giving them an out. _

_Once nearing the main office, Sara had come in with Felicity to watch her back while she did what she did best but things got out of hand as Sara was pulled out into a fight leaving Felicity to defend herself. _

_Grabbing the USB, which she put into a quite-hard-to-destroy case and popping that into her bra (not a lot of guys dared to look there) before making her way out of the office only to jump out of the frying pan and straight into the fire, or in this case into a small group of soldiers. _

_Forcing self-defence and attacking lessons into her mind, Felicity fought hard and fast through the small group but was soon required to divert her path into the nearby forest to escape her pursuers. She hadn't been able to check on the rest of her team but knew each and every single one of them was able to hold their own in a fight. _

_Oliver, Sara, Digg and Roy were all left to their own devices._

Luckily for this little escapade, Felicity had decided to wear everything that was designed for not only being in the outdoors but also in cold climates but despite the fact that most of the clothing were thermal, it still couldn't manage to keep all the coldness of the outside out so this meant that her body warmth was leaking out, being lost into the cold atmosphere.

No matter how much she wanted to stop and take a breather but she knew if she stopped now, she'd be dead. Taking a risk at a glance over her shoulder, Felicity saw the men a couple yards behind her but with her still in their sights.

Dammit, she needed a way to get off their radar and find shelter to wait to decide what to do next.

The trees up ahead began to thin out but she wasn't sure if that was good or bad. Racing out of the cover of the trees, Felicity barely managed to stop in time to avoid falling off the cliff dead ahead of her. Now what? There was nowhere left to go now.

Hearing their rapidly incoming footsteps, Felicity took a gamble and leapt off the edge, plunging into the icy river below her.

Gunshots were sounded through the air around her, the bullets spreading themselves out directions to the side of her position dicing through the air like a knife through butter.

The moment she broke through the surface, spikes of frozen water hit her full force, forcing her body to fight against the temperature of the water. She couldn't spend too long in the water otherwise she'd freeze.

Fortunately for Felicity her current position enabled her to use the cover of the cliffs to remain off radar and seeing how they didn't take the plunge or fire shots off, they must've believed her to have gone a different way.

Felicity drew her body in on itself in a tight embrace, trying to take up as less surface as possible. It was as if she had done it a thousand times, going through the procedure like a pro.

Forcing her mind onto the next task of getting herself out of the water, Felicity stayed close to the sides until she reached a bank where she clambered her way out of the cold depths of the river.

Scanning around, her eyes searched for anywhere that she could take shelter in and provide herself with some sort of relief, to keep her body warmth up. She didn't need to be a genius to know that after diving into the river, she had gained symptoms of hypothermia. This wasn't good at all.

Finding a cave opposite the bank of the river, Felicity heaved her body towards it and set the new task of building a small fire to provide warmth.

Searching it thoroughly she was content with spending the night here _for now_, and began to slowly build the fire but made sure to build it far into the cave, just in case anyone came back.

After it all, the weariness was taking effect on her but she wasn't done yet.

Pulling the partially broken walkie-talkie out of her pocket, she thanked her lucky stars for deciding to wrap it in some sort of clingfilm in case this was to happen.

Taking a peek at the wiring, it seemed sustainable to contact her team. Sadly she wasn't able to actually contact them but nonetheless, she heard them and knew they were safe so that was enough for her. Now to focus on herself.

Felicity wasn't even aware she'd closed her eyes until the sound of footsteps nearing her jolted her awake. Pushing up from her original position of laying on her side, she readied herself for almost anything but knew she couldn't promise anything in terms of fight, for the hypothermia had taken hold of her. The footsteps grew nearer and nearer until no more distance remained between them.

Clutching one of the wooden planks, fire blazing the tip, Felicity prepared for whether or not she was going to have to use the fire in terms of defence.

Shuffling backwards until her back hit the cave wall, using the corner to her advantage, she set her mind.

The way shivers still wracked through her body definitely wasn't helping at all but she couldn't afford to lose her focus right now.

The sound of a foot being placed to her right sent her arm swinging in its direction but unfortunately it met resistance. Now she was screwed.

"…Felicity?" when the familiar voice spoke, all the tension and fear melted away. "Felicity!"

Oliver.

Smiling in relief, Felicity checked him over as he did the same with her when he saw the weariness present in her features and from the way she was slumped against the wall, shivers silently wracking her skeleton. That wasn't a good sign.

"Felicity, what happened? Are you alright?" she knew she couldn't lie to him and really there wasn't any point in it either, he'd just find out. It was kind of evident from the way she was acting that she was cold.

"Unless being forced to jump off a cliff into an icy river is a good thing, not really" trying for the old sarcasm route to convince him she was okay, Felicity tried her hand at convincing him but failed instantly when quite a violent shiver left her in pieces in its wake, causing her teeth to chatter like a skeleton.

"You what?!"

"I didn't really have a choice, I was being chased so it was either jump and take a gamble or stay there and let them catch me and most likely kill me on the spot…please tell me that everyone else is alright and safe"

"Yeah they're okay, it was you that took the majority of the attention away from the rest of us…you basically saved our lives, let's just say we got ourselves in a right pickle. You're the one that the rest of us were worried about, we all split up in different directions to try and find you, and looks like you did well to defend yourself. Now let's focus on getting you warm"

Oliver didn't miss a beat in adding more wood to the fire to keep it going, warming up the large space right away.

"Don't worry, I checked the place out before lighting the fire, we're the only ones here"

"Good call on the fire by the way. Look we have to get you warm, so since you were in the river we need to get you out of these clothes"

"No I'm fine, really" her words became slurred together as she looked through half opened eyes, which soon became nothing more than slits, on the verge from closing.

"No you're not" was his only response before beginning to strip her of her outer layers, piling the wet clothing in a pile on the floor besides the fire to warm them for her later on.

The morning of the mission Felicity had pulled on layer upon layer to make sure to keep her body heat in her body, finishing with a total of five layers; underwear, tank top and leggings (even if they did next to nothing they still added another layer so they would help), shirt and trousers, jacket and coat.

Now after stripping her of all the wet layers left Felicity in nothing but her tank top and leggings but she was still cold.

"Felicity, come here" Oliver opened the zipper to his jacket and pulled her onto his lap, drawing her close to his chest to share his body heat, zipping up his jacket around them both.

Her breathing wasn't laboured anymore but whenever she exhaled, it came out stuttered. Oliver knew it wasn't good but it was definitely better than her not shaking at all, that would mean she was suffering deeper symptoms of hypothermia and that would scare him severely.

"Try getting some sleep, I'll keep watch, I'll keep you safe" he whispered into ear while Felicity burrowed deeper into him (_God that sounded so wrong) _and let herself drift off knowing that Oliver's there to keep her safe for the meantime.

"We need to…check on the others" Felicity murmured mostly into his chest but his ninja senses picked it up.

"We'll worry about them later, you're the one that needs the rest…they're fine, they'll live but for now just go to sleep"

How Oliver always made sure she was the one that was safe primarily always got a smile on her face and it didn't fail now either.

"I like having you here"

"I like having you close to me" the way he tightened his grip slightly wasn't lost on her.

Eyes fluttering closed; the cover of nightfall met her like an old friend, meeting her with a welcoming embrace and the promise of safety for the darkness ahead.

* * *

Oliver let the glow of the fire light up the cave, fighting off the darkness that loomed overhead, plaguing them all with shadows, hiding dangers that lurked around every turn.

The gentle yet strong rhythm of Felicity's heart created a soothing soundtrack that instantly calmed him to a point no one else has ever reached before.

How she did it?

The reason was unknown to him; she just had this comforting presence that shone out like a homing beacon. That just made him hold onto her sleeping form that much tighter but not to the point of pain.

When he had heard the men being called away from their posts fighting the team he had been curious to what the reason was and thankful for the distraction because they were being forced back but when he caught onto the fact that it was Felicity, he heart stopped, dropped and shattered to a million pieces on the floor.

The worst part?

The second he had seen Sara he knew she was alone against the men, a threat he struggled to gain control over. That in itself was like a knife to the throat.

Running through the forest following the soldier's tracks, which he could just make out, was one of the most not only intense but painful situations he's ever had to live through. It was certain that he'd rather go through the torture of the island for those dreadful five years than waiting to know of the position of his girl Friday.

The moment he heard those gunshots ring out, the sound ricocheting over the tops of the trees, his heart was in his throat but his movement never ceased to stop pushing forward.

Coming out from the trees to the side of the main cliff, the sight of the group of men perched atop the pile of rocks was a sight he never wanted to see because his mind pieced together a series of thoughts of what (or who) they were looking for but he convinced himself that Felicity had gone a different route and used some sort of distraction to led them there.

Following a different route towards the land below them, praying that he would be able to find her or the others team members to find her.

_Please let them find her._

'Great minds think alike' was something that Shado had once said to him when they had been separated during a storm and had found their way to each other again in a cave.

Please let her be right once more just like before.

Part of him hoped that Shado would help guide him to Felicity like someone had once done with him to her.

Finding a cave nearing the bank of the river far down the side, Oliver entered cautiously.

Forgetting how to breathe momentarily when the gentle crackle of a fire met his ears he desperately prayed to a God he didn't believe to exist that it was who he thought it to be. The sound drawing him closer and closer.

When a branch came swinging at him his keen senses allowed him to catch the flaming wood before it touched its target. Luckily he caught the branch below the tip that was currently being engulfed by flames.

Trailing the arm that held the branch back to its owner, his heart did a double take when he saw her staring at him like she didn't really see him, only past him, through him even like he wasn't even there.

Her name was water in a scorching hot desert, worshipped. His voice seemed to snap her out of her reverie that had caught her in its embrace and wasn't releasing her so easily.

Just from looking at her Oliver knew that something was off about her, so when he saw how a series of shakes seemed to course through her body, leaving her in pieces behind, and a puddle making itself known on the floor he pieced it all together and knew she'd been through something wet (_why did that have to sound so goddamn wrong?)_.

Not hesitating in removing her of her soaked-through clothing, luckily her tank top and leggings she had thrown on underneath were left untouched and for the matter of her putting them on in the first place was like a gush of fresh air to know he wouldn't have to deal with her in her underwear.

Don't get him wrong, he would've loved every second of it but that was the problem, it would've thrown off all of his senses and they would be in a lot of trouble otherwise.

* * *

So there they both lay huddled up together inside Oliver's snug hood, which he had customised just for this mission with padding making it much warmer than before, with his bow to the side of them.

His protective instincts kicked in when the sound of new footsteps whistled through the cave. Bringing Felicity that much closer, _if that was even possible_, so she was now fully on top of him as he backed them both behind the boulder that Felicity had chosen to lean against, which was yet another good call on her part.

Reaching for his bow, Oliver drew back an arrow all the time being wary of the sleeping woman seeking warmth within his hood and waited for any signs of danger.

Fortunately her clothing that he had stripped from her, that lay out to the side discarded, now served as a distraction as the source of the newfound noise took the bait.

Getting a good glimpse of the intruders, Oliver released a breath he didn't know to be holding when he saw Sara, Digg and Roy.

"What took you lot so long?" Oliver stated to the group, who swivelled on their heel at the sight behind them, taking a deep breath when they saw not only Oliver safe and sound but Felicity's head peeking out of his jacket.

"What happened with you two?" Sara gestured to the clothing that still remained untouched by the fire, slowly drying out.

"Shh…she's sleeping, and to the question I had to take them off otherwise the hypothermia would've gotten too bad…she did good to keep herself warm before I found her but she was shivering" when they all lay their eyes on the sleeping woman in his arms, they lowered their voices to just below a whisper to make sure not to wake her, no offence to her but she looked like she was in desperate need of it.

"How'd she get hypothermia?" Digg came over to kneel beside Oliver and checked her pulse, it was there beating away like nothing had ever happened. Digg remained beside Oliver, gladly accepting the warmth of the fire.

"From the little she's told me and what I saw, after she got the attention of the guards she was forced into the forest, came across a cliff and took a gamble and jumped off into the icy river below then found this cave and lit a fire to keep her warm but made sure it was far enough to not gain any attention"

"How did you find her then?" Roy asked, coming to sit in front of the fire just to the side of Oliver, Sara doing the same on the other side that Digg wasn't currently taking up residence on.

"Something Shado once told me was great minds think alike and I just hoped she was right in this instance and she was, when I found her she attacked me with a flaming branch and if it wasn't for her shaking then she probably would've hit me"

"And your ninja-like senses…don't forget them" her brittle voice now became the centre of attention of the group.

"I thought I told you to go to sleep?" Oliver looked down on her with a soft edge.

"I could hear you lot talking, I'm a light sleeper as I've found out while working with you lot"

"So apparently you not only saved our lives and jumped off a cliff, all while keeping the USB drive safe, but you attacked Oliver with a flaming branch too, well someone's had a lot of excitement for tonight" Sara mused, the two of them had become like sisters, probably making up for that of the relationship between her and Laurel, who still hated her for dying and coming back.

"That's an understatement" Digg teased, receiving a tongue to be stuck out his direction, making him chuckle.

"Can I have my other clothes back now?" Felicity glanced at her current position inside Oliver's hoodie, it wasn't the fact that she felt uncomfortable with his close presence it was just the fact that right now she definitely had her body warmth restored.

Trying to shift herself up and away from Oliver, towards her pile of clothes she hoped were dry.

"Nope, you stole my body heat now I'm going to steal it back" Oliver just brought her back to his chest once more and held her closer.

"You're the one that suggested this in the first place" she retorted with a roll of her eyes, musing the group.

"Yeah it was either this or have you freeze to death"  
"Oh please, I was fine before"

"That is one of the worst lies I've ever heard" his statement got a snort of laughter from her, which caused him to send a glare her way.

"Really, are you really sure you want to go there with the lies you shot at me?" crossing her arms, Felicity looked up at Oliver. At this point he just avoided eye contact with her, instead looking ahead at the fire.

"Oh she's got you there Ollie" Sara laughed at Oliver's expression of defeat.

"Alright, I think we better get some sleep…I'll take first watch" he attempted at changing the subject.

"Fun's over…it's alright I'll take up first watch, besides you've been on watch since you've found Liz here" Roy sniggered while he still could at his mentor, who was looking at him like he was planning his next torture, he meant training session.

* * *

When the laughing finally died down, they established the plan for the journey back home before settling down for the night.

It was pretty clear even from the beginning that each and every one of them had strength, sometimes even where others didn't. Through everything that's happened that night, all the team knew that Felicity had the strength to go on even when faced with the fear of the end.

From the events of the mission, it only served as the reminder that in cases such as these, strength really does become survival.


	24. When Panic Sets In

**I know I've already done a pregnancy trope with Olicity but I couldn't help myself, I had to do another one because they are always so much fun to write! **

**Oh yeah and in this fanfic, Tommy's alive! I miss him on the show so I decided to make this fanfic a 'happy world' one. Yeah I just completely made that up on the spot but you can't judge me for it though so _on with the show__!_**

**This one took quite some time because since I'm me, I had to pick odd things out and add new bits in so yeah. Anways I hope you enjoy reading this, I enjoyed writing it. **

**If any of you have prompts, I'm more than glad to accept them and turn them into a masterpiece of their own. **

**But anyways as always please leave a review and tell me your thoughts. **

**Thank you x**

What had she been thinking? Sure they had one special night that ended up with her receiving a special package that would only change her life but in what way? That she didn't know.

When she found out, _thank you morning sickness- you still suck_, she had freaked out big time. Pacing through her apartment with question after question hurtling her way, interrogating her on what her plans were for it all. That's what scared her the most, she didn't have any. That's when she started to face facts. She, Felicity Smoak, was pregnant with Oliver's Queen's child and she was completely alone.

Thinking back maybe she shouldn't have acted the way she had then maybe she wouldn't have been in this mess to begin with, no scratch that if they had actually remembered to wear some sort of protection that night then none of this would've happened. It was her own fault.

Thinking maybe Oliver wanted to be a part of their child's life, she had gone to the Foundry where Oliver, Digg, Sara and Roy were all talking and sparring and gotten everything out of her system when they all saw how scared and hesitant she was. Their faces were now burned into her memory but the one thing she'll never forget was how fast Oliver all but sprinted out of the lair and away from her, from _them_. No matter, she still returned to the lair to help where she could but Oliver never came down those stairs.

A week passed and still no Oliver. Her friends could see what it was doing to her and they tried to comfort her as best they could but nothing changed. She appreciated the effort but it still didn't change the fact that Oliver had run away from her and _their _unborn child.

The following week Felicity had finally had enough, if he didn't want to be part of their, no _her _child's life the so be it, it was his lost. But it didn't cover the fact that it still _hurt_.

So that's how she found her way to the airport and onto the next plane to Los Angeles, her _true _home, the place that hadn't cast her out like the plague. Leaving her _actual _friends with either a letter or an email telling them that she was sorry but this was something she needed to do for not only herself but for her son, she had found out the sex during the weekend, and take up her role as a mother. It was hard yes because she didn't exactly have the best motherly role or childhood for that fact but nonetheless, she was strong, she would find her way just like she always did. Oliver though, she hadn't apologised for her sudden absence but only giving him her letter of resignation, keeping things strictly professional between them for at this current time, it was the only thing she could do to stop herself from being hurt again and hell no was she going to be responsible for putting the innocent life of her son through the entire thing as well.

The sound of her destination being announced broke through her spiral of thoughts and it was then that her phone vibrated, gaining her attention. Glancing down at the familiar number, she hesitated before accepting the call.

"Felicity" Digg's voice was stressed and that alone made her wary.

"Yeah it's me, you called why it wouldn't be me?" she kept her gaze solely out the window and on the world above the clouds.

"What are you doing? Everyone's going crazy trying to find you" it was the huddle of voices in the background that caught her attention.

"Digg I told you guys that I don't want to be found….wait, where are you?"

"At the airport trying to find you, Felicity I know this is difficult for you and with Oliver disappearing, which certainly didn't help either but this isn't the way to go. Please Felicity let us help you, _both _of you. When Oliver found out you'd gone he ran over to the airport after you, broke several red lights doing so" that fighter side of her told her not to give in to the temptation, she'd given him a chance and he blew it, that was _not _her fault.

"Well it's a little late now, Digg I gave him a chance, I stayed at the Foundry for a week for him and he never turned up. I'm used to doing things on my own anyways, I've been on my own for years before you lot, so what makes this any different?" she sighed at the thought of it all. None of this way fair on _her_, she'd been through just as much hell as the next person and more so concluding on the fact that she worked beside a vigilante as well, so why should she give up her chance at a whole new start?

"Felicity nobody's blaming you, we just want to help but leaving Starling and just running in the opposite direction, that's not going to help things out any more than how Oliver disappeared last week"

"Digg, I can't do this…not anymore, none of this is fair on me and now that I'm not alone I have to think about _both _of us, this is the best for everyone. Oliver says that it's dangerous even being related to him so believed at keeping me at arm's distance from him was the solution then so be it, I'm doing this for what's best for my kid Digg please honour that at least" stray tears leaked from her eyes at the weight slowly crushing her from the inside out.

"Believe me I do honour that, I understand where all of this is coming from but think about everyone else here, we all _need _you with us"

"Digg you once told me that family comes first, you still believe that don't you?"

"Course I do"

"Then you'll understand that over the few years you and the team have become my family, so I _am _doing the best for you guys too. I refuse to be the liability of the team; I refuse to be the one that ends up being the death of everyone else so this is me saying goodbye, cutting myself off and giving you lot a breath of fresh air"

"Felicity you are not a liability and you are most certainly not the weak point of the team, you're the strongest one out of all of us…without you none of us will be able to work like we do, you're the one that holds us all together so don't tear us apart. We're a family and family is forever, family stick together through thick and thin"

"I…can't…this is my goodbye, I'll keep in touch" Felicity rushed to the end and to end the call before they all pulled her back in again. She knew she was a coward for doing this but she didn't have a choice. What if all this ended up putting both the life of her son and herself in danger? It would be all her fault and she wouldn't be able to live with herself.

She could hear Digg's protests at cutting him off but she didn't turn back.

* * *

Why didn't he see this coming? Why had Oliver been so stupid? How in the world could he have used Felicity and the feelings she had for him to get what the old Ollie would've only wanted from her? That's the part that sickened him, seeing the look of distraught on Felicity's face when Oliver disappeared. He all but legged-it out of the lair as fast as his legs could carry him and from that it made Digg want to knock him out.

During the week of Oliver's disappearance he witnessed the destruction it had on Felicity, slowly dulling that light inside of her until it was nothing but a blur. That liveliness he always saw in her faded away as quick as Oliver ran out on her and her kid.

However when he, Roy and Sara had all received a goodbye email from Felicity, telling them how she was sorry for walking out on _them _but it was just something that she had to do for herself and her child, to step into her role as a mother and honestly he didn't blame her for doing so because he knew that it was hard for her to do so. She was like a younger sister to him and he would gladly go to the ends of the Earth to defend her from any harm but this he just couldn't protect her from. Your worst enemy is always going to be yourself.

Both Roy and Sara were just as distressed as he was, being the fact that Felicity was always the one that made them laugh and brightened up their days without so much as a batter of an eyelid. He never knew how she actually did it.

The following week Oliver had finally gotten his head out of his ass and returned to the lair but this time, _Felicity wasn't there_.

"Where's Felicity?" how he just expected her to be there when he got back made the urge to punch him that much stronger but he reined it in. Barely.

"Gone" he managed to say but through gritted teeth.

"What do you mean gone?" with each word he took a step closer to his team mates, who were lined up in front of Felicity's desk looking to one of the monitors that held her email.

"What do you think he means?" Roy stepped up to his mentor, arms by his side with hands clenched tightly into fists, "How could you do this to her?"

"Where did she go?" when nobody answered him, he all but growled out "Where?"

"Why do you think we should tell you? So you can just hurt her again?" Roy refused to back down and Digg wasn't the only one that considered Felicity a sister.

"No so I can apologise and right my wrongs" anger began to diminish from his features as the look of defeat replaced it all too easily.

"…we guess the airport, but I swear Ollie if you only want to bring her back just so you can continue to mess around and play with her head, I will send one of your own arrows through you without even so much as a twitch" Sara turned and faced him, giving Oliver a full-on view of just how goddamn serious she was.

With that Oliver raced up and out of the Foundry, faster than the first time, with the rest of the team in hot pursuit.

Not caring about the red lights he currently stormed his way through, Oliver dashed to the airport all the while pushing his bike to its limits, praying that he wasn't too late.

Barging his way through people scattered around the airport, he scanned everywhere searching for the woman he regretted ever running out on. But she was nowhere to be found. He was too late.

* * *

The water made all her existing problems disappear; embracing her in a feeling of something she hadn't felt for a while, contentment.

Ever since she had decided to go to Los Angeles, California in a beach house down by the shore, she knew the second she arrived that this would be good for both of them. She knew LA like the back of her hand, she knew everything to do with the city so raising her child here seemed like the best move to make but the one thing that didn't seem to leave her be was the fact that logically, she had ran away with not only hers but Oliver's kid too. So in a way she had brought along with her a piece of him, whether or not it was a wise decision was beyond her but what she did know was that he wouldn't be visiting any time soon.

When Digg had questioned her on her motives for disappearing on them she had told him the truth but not the whole truth. Honestly she couldn't help the way she had a part of her had seen it as an escape route from the world of being hurt over and over again, a world that only played with her like a doll, without a care in the world but now she had a proper reason behind it too.

The whole thought of her becoming a mother scared her speechless. But to be entirely honest, who in their right mind was ready to become a mother to a young soul who relied so much on them to guide them through the early stages of their life?

Sound of seagulls crying bounced across the tops of the waves gently lapping at the shore near the house, this was almost perfect. The only fact being that she was currently alone to tread through the demanding and stressful stages of raising her child on her alone with that kind of responsibility leaving her scrambling for sanity.

Swimming in the ocean lifted the weight momentarily from her shoulders enabling her to finally breathe after the second she had seen the positive sign on her pregnancy test. She knew it was a little strange and probably disturbing but she had actually kept the test, just to serve as a constant reminder that she wasn't losing it after everything she'd been through.

Even though Felicity knew it was still the early stages of her pregnancy, _she still couldn't believe that was coming out of her mouth, _when she swam for a maximum of 30 minutes she believed that swimming somewhat eased the two of them so maybe she'd found the secret to soothing the pair of them into 'dreamland' _as she used to call it when she was younger_. So far she was about a couple weeks into the pregnancy with the due date nearing somewhere during June of next year.

Coming back up for air Felicity's eyes locked onto the beach, that she was currently nearing, and the four people watching her.

This wasn't going to end well.

Breathing out a long breath, Felicity convinced herself to begin closing the distance between them after staring at their position on the shore for a couple long minutes.

Holding up a towel for her, Oliver stood with a stoic expression on his face.

"What are you doing here and how did you find me?" standing in front of them, distance becoming somewhat of a barrier between her and Oliver, who hadn't uttered a single word.

"I told you we were searching for you, so we used the tracker on your phone which thankfully you hadn't enabled" Digg broke the silence.

"And I thought I told you that I didn't want to be found" she wasn't backing down this easily; she wasn't going to allow herself to be sucked back down the rabbit hole.

"Why did you run?" Oliver finally spoke after what seemed like a decade.

"Are you really asking me that?" not once had she even so much as glanced at Oliver but now she couldn't bring herself to look away. He needed to know what he did to her. "Why do you think?" walking past them to her house, Felicity went upstairs straightway to have a shower.

Upon coming back down, the entire team were sitting in the lounge awaiting her presence. _Awaiting her presence? Seriously who says that? _Keeping a tight hold of that promise she made to herself about not falling back down the rabbit hole, she entered.

* * *

"Well how am I supposed to act when I find out that I'm going to be a father to a kid?"

They had been arguing for the past hour. Digg, Roy and Sara had all decided it would be best if they just left the two future-parents to their own devices and see how that went.  
"How do you think I felt when I learned I was pregnant? I couldn't run away like you, I had to face the facts since it was partly my fault that this all happened"

"What are you saying? That it was all a mistake?" he frowned. Hurt flashed in his eyes but she turned a blind eye to it, the amount of times he'd hurt her. He deserved everything that she was hurtling at him.

"I don't know anything with you Oliver! I don't know whether it was mistake or not, I don't know whether or not you meant anything you said that night or just used that to get what you wanted! One second you're pulling me close and the next you're keeping me at arm's length so why the hell would I ever want to go back to that, please tell me that!" she didn't care about anything else but getting everything off her chest, she'd been bottling this all up ever since Oliver decided to take the one week vacation.

"Do you really think that I'd say all that I did that night to you just to get to you? Do you really think that low of me? So what now, you're just going to keep my kid from me?"

"NO! I never said that so don't you dare twist my words! Until I give birth I decide where both of us go because this is my life and there's nothing you can say to change that. After the kid's born then we can talk about what we're going to do about our situation but do you really want to tie yourself down to this, to our kid? Because if you don't you might as well tell me now so I can at least prepare myself, one of us has to be the sensible adult and take care of them"

"Felicity there is no way I'm going to miss any second of this and if it means that I have to prove it to you by any means necessary, so be it but I am not going to let you go through this alone. Even if I would appreciate it more if you did agree to come back to Starling with me, I'm more than happy to stay by your side and help out in any way I can"

During the argument Felicity had distanced herself from Oliver not only physically but mentally also, but that changed when Oliver closed that space between them both and tried to take her up in his arms, the feeling he had missed ever since the night they had shared together.

"Good" she rejected his offer of comfort; she didn't want nor need his comfort, his safe embrace and took a few steps away from him which wasn't lost on him.

"Felicity…" he tried to step closer to her but time after time, she refused.

"Don't, just don't…I can't deal with that too" right now her gaze was anywhere but his, avoiding him as much as she could. But he wasn't giving in that easily.

"Felicity please, don't do this"

"You should've thought of that when you ran as fast as you could out of the door"

"It's complicated to explain in words" he sighed, almost in defeat.

"No its not, you just make everything complicated. You always see a fault in something so you give up on it; distance yourself from it as much as possible"

"That's not true"

"Yes it is Oliver. Why you even came to me that night, I will never know but one thing that I refuse to do is let this innocent kid get lost in this mess between us" she was holding back that stream of tears that wanted to make themselves known.

"I don't want that"

"What?"

"I said I don't want that for our kid, I want them to have the best life they possibly can and not be caught up in this shit" taking a seat to the side, Oliver inhaled deeply "Look Felicity, the reason why I ran that night was I never thought of myself as a father. When you told me that you were pregnant, I just panicked and did the only thing that I actually knew how to do and I ran. Look everyone knows that I didn't exactly have the world's best childhood and when it comes to fathers, I don't have the best experience since mine was cheating on my mother and vice versa"

"I understand that, reminding you that I didn't actually know my father, so neither do I but being a mother is something that I'm just going to have to figure out along the way since I didn't have a nice childhood either….look when I was younger my mother used to come in with a completely different man every single night and used to shove me in my room or dump me in the arms of one of my now quite good friends. He was a bodyguard at the casino she worked at and I preferred being with him than my own mother and I barely even saw her as it was. For all I knew, she could have been dead and I wouldn't know it. I spent most of my childhood with him and he basically became like my adoptive father and/or brother. Being a mother? I don't even know where to start but I figuring it out, just like you'll have to when the time comes but something I _do _know is that when you see that little baby in your arms, you'll already know what to do because it'll come naturally just like being a vigilante, saving the city does" during the speech, Felicity went to sit on one of the settees', opposite Oliver.

"So why did _you _run?"

_No more lies Felicity, just tell him, get it over with and it could help with moving on._

"I was scared history was repeating itself again" she muttered bluntly. That was the full truth.

"That's why? Because you were afraid of us becoming like your parents"

"Yeah, pretty much that"

And now it all made sense to him.

Getting to his feet, Oliver went over to where Felicity was sitting and kneeled down in front of her, settling himself between her knees.

"Felicity? Felicity, please look at me" when she refused to meet his gaze, he placed his index finger beneath her chin and raised her head up level with his then cupped her cheeks. "I am so sorry, I'm sorry for running. I should've stayed with you, I shouldn't have run out on you…but I promise you with everything I have, we will not repeat where our parents have failed because _they failed us_. Between the two of us we can raise this kid in a life where they know only love, right where our parents failed" the determination in his eyes sent shivers down her spine as she finally gave in, leaning forward to place her forward on his shoulder. Taking this as an invitation to hold her, Oliver wrapped his strong arms right around her.

Entering familiar ground, they both ended up hugging the other with everything they had. Felicity buried her head in his neck as he burrowed into her hair, filling his senses with her soothing scent of lavender.

She had a feeling now that he had her in his arms, he would never let her go. Figuratively of course, imagine how awkward it would be on her end if she had to walk around with his arms around her. She had to contain the smile from erupting across her face and she knew she failed when stray giggles came through her lips, which she pulled into a tight line.

"What?" he pulled back slightly to look at her but didn't fully release her from his hold, probably scared that the second he let her go she would run for the hills. It was tempting to say the least.

"Nothing, it's nothing" she squeaked out, goosebumps covering her skin.

"Felicity"

"Really it's just, my brain is just being mean"

"Felicity, you've got goosebumps everywhere"

"No I've…just don't worry about it. Let's just leave it at that before I end up on the floor bright red" just then more goosebumps replaced the visible ones.

"What is going on in that mind of yours?"

"Believe me, you don't want to know, you never want to know what my brain cooks up from time to time"

"Yeah you're probably right…but there is something I want to talk to you about though" the momentarily hesitation was evident that he was nervous on what he was about to say next.

"What?" urging him on.

"Would you come back to Starling with us?" Oliver said it all in one breath, rushing it.

"…um…I've got to admit, that's not something I've thought about but why do I feel like that's not the only thing you want to ask me?"

"Damn you for knowing me too well"

"Part of my natural charm, anyways on with it"

"…I know it's a little forward-y of me, which is a word by the way…"

"No judgement, I make up words all the time, it's quite fun actually, yeah so proceed"

"…but how would you feel about…moving, in with me?"

"Oh"

"Oh?"

"Oh I was not expecting that"

"I mean, I think it would be best what with the baby coming and everything"

"Is that the _only _reason why you want me to move in with you…besides where would we even stay, if it's the mansion then it's an instant no"

"Alright so it's not the _only _reason why, but while we're on the subject, no it will not be the mansion, probably the penthouse or something"

"Penthouse? Actually why am I surprised by that?"

"No idea, you should be used to it by now"

"…yes…"

"What?"

"Oh Oliver, I don't know how you survive…yes, I'll come back to Starling with you guys and _maybe _in the penthouse"

"Why maybe?"

"Because I have to consult my fear of heights first"

"Oh"

"Oh _yeah_"

"Alright what if it wasn't the penthouse? What if it was a house on the outskirts of the city? What would you say to that?"

"Would it have a porch swing?"

"Would that change your mind to a yes?" he strode for a definite yes and wouldn't relent until the answer came out of her mouth.

"Maybe it would, maybe it wouldn't"

"Felicity" the warning tone in his voice told her that he wasn't one for maybes; obviously he was _Oliver Queen_ and all.

"_Fine…I…_yeah" Felicity stuttered out words before finally answering properly.

"Yes?"

"Yes"

"Good"

"Good"

"Fine"

"Alright, see ya" she made her way out of the room and towards the stairs before he grasped hold of her arms and turned her round.

"Wait, where are you going?"

"There and back, see how far it is" when he gave her a look that left her with tumbleweeds expected to roll past, she rolled her eyes "Please tell me that you're not going to go super-all-out-protective on me are you? Relax I'm just going to my room to pack my things"

"Depends, are you going to be annoying the entire pregnancy?"

"Depends, are you going to be Oliver the entire pregnancy?"

"Maybe"

"Then maybe I will" with that she fake stormed upstairs, a smile on her face that she couldn't seem to whip off.

Meanwhile Oliver went outside to the beach and informed the remaining members of the team that she agreed to come back and move in with him.

* * *

Over the next few months things began to grow a bit more interesting, mostly due to the fact that there was a solid source of happiness coming from each and every member of the team.

The second they had landed back in Starling, Oliver had promptly moved Felicity into the house he had put into storage in case he had ever needed somewhere to fall back onto, in case of emergencies but this was the best use of it.

A family home.

The word family and Queen never seemed to coexist in the same sentence favourably since they weren't really a happy family but now with Felicity and their baby on the way, he finally had something to be happy for. Something to live for.

Mornings didn't seem to be the best part of the day for Felicity since the majority of them always ended in blowing chunks into the toilet.

Oliver was a trooper through it all, helping where he could; holding her hair back, rubbing circles on her back to try and take her mind off it, carrying her back to bed and being her personal hot water bottle. She was more than thankful for it all and she made sure to tell him that. To be honest when they had first spent the night together, in the same house, the fact that they shared a queens' size bed (Oliver couldn't stop smiling- _damn his cheesiness_) hadn't seemed like an issue and frankly they gladly slept side by side without so much as even twitching. Alright, so _maybe _this wasn't going to be the worst time in the world, it could prove to have upsides to it.

* * *

A few weeks later, they all welcomed Lyla, Thea, Nyssa, Tommy and Laurel into the 'Arrow Family', which instantly made all the women laugh when the men all just groaned. The ten of them actually worked amazingly well together. Even though Oliver put his foot down when Thea and Laurel, even Tommy, said they wanted to come out and help them in the field and even more so when Felicity offered when they needed someone as bait to a psychotic maniac Oliver had basically threatened to tie her to the damn chair.

So whenever Oliver, Digg, Lyla, Roy, Sara and Nyssa went out into the field, Felicity, Thea, Tommy and Laurel helped out where they could on comms and pitched in with patching them up when they came back, even verbally abusing them as well.

Something Felicity had learnt was Oliver was most punished when she didn't say anything but just laid her hand on her now speed-bump stomach. It made her laugh how it affected him so much, so much so that she had to lock herself in the bathroom just to try and control the barrels of laughter rolling from her, leaving her gasping for air on the floor. Once or twice Sara, Laurel, Thea and Lyla all went in with her just to piss of all the guys. It was hilarious.

* * *

Week by week passed and her little speed bump grew, _it was terrifying_. The fact that she was growing closer to not only meeting their kid but having her entire life revolve around that little bundle in her arms.

"Felicity?" a voice asked from behind, she didn't have to turn around to know it was Lyla.

"Yeah" she couldn't stand turning around for she knew stray tears were leaking down her face.

"Are you alright?"

"Yep, fine, I'm alright…what about you? You okay?"

"Oh come on Felicity, you're crying again aren't you?"

"No, I have no idea what you're talking about" keeping her voice from filling with her tears was a battle in itself but that didn't stop Lyla from spinning her chair around to face her.

All the guys had gone out doing something. Tommy, Laurel, Sara and Nyssa were out on a double date with Oliver, Digg, Roy and Thea were out talking to Lance. Why Lyla was still here was a mystery.

"How come you're not with Digg?"

"How come you're not with Oliver?"

"I asked you first"

"I knew you were staying here so I wanted to keep you company, besides Oliver asked me to watch over you and call him if anything bad happens"

"I'm tempted to call him just to make him ticked off at me, it's always funny"

"Don't give me ideas it won't end well, anyways why are you crying?"

"…it's just the whole pregnancy thing is getting to me" glancing down to her now visible- slightly average -bump, she couldn't help but lay a hand over her stomach "It's just that, when I think about it, I'm going to have a small little bundle of adorableness in my arms looking to me for protection and comfort and to be honest, the thought of the child that I've been carrying for two months now in my arms…..Urgh I think my hormones are making me an emotional wreck right now"

_Try laughing it out Smoak, just laugh it out._

"Just a few more months and we all can finally meet him/her…um there's also another thing that I wanted to talk to you about though, I wanted _you _to be the first one to know but...I'm pregnant"

"OMG are you serious!"

"Yeah, I found out this morning when Johnny was out and it's just…I don't know what to do with it all, I need your help"

Lyla was now sitting in a computer chair to the side of her desk leaning her arms on her desk, head perched atop.

"Lyla, breathe, you have to remember to breathe. Look, you and Digg are okay, right?"

"Yes, yes we are and I love every second of it"

"And you love _him_, right?"

"More than anyone"

"Then you have nothing to worry about, I can assure you that he feels the same for you and he would do anything for you and that feeling is probably mutual so just tell him, don't worry"

"Thank you…and um Felicity, can I ask you one more thing?"  
"Sure, anything"

"Will you be the godmother?"

"Only on one condition"

"What's that?"

"You and Digg will be the godparents to mine and Oliver's child"

"Of course"

"Then yes"

They both hugged the other, careful not to injure the babies in the process. _Huh, two pregnant women hugging each other, they were in the same boat. _

"What are you two so jolly about?" Digg's voice came from the stairs as he and Oliver returned.

Sneaking a peek at Felicity, who was nodding her encouragement, Lyla turned to Digg.

"I'm pregnant"

"…you're what?"

"We're going to be parents"

"You're serious?"

"Course I am"

"Jesus…I…come here"

Felicity had to turn her head because her hormones were beginning to become annoying little things.

"Are you alright?"

"Pregnancy hormones are a bitch" was her only response.

"Ah, come here you"

"You? What's next, thing?" Felicity replied in mock insult.

"Funny…come on, let's go home" reaching out, Oliver wrapped his arm around her waist and covered her stomach with one hand.

This was going to be one long pregnancy.

* * *

Things were really moving along with the pregnancy, since now she was rolling into her fourth month and to be honest it wasn't actually that bad. But then again maybe that was because of the fact that now she and Oliver were now boyfriend, girlfriend.

Felicity and Lyla were discussing pregnancies while Oliver, Digg, Sara, Nyssa, Thea, Roy, Tommy and Laurel were off doing their own thing when she felt it.

A sudden pain hit her in the stomach, hand flying to her stomach out of motherly instinct.

"Who-OW!" closing her eyes and piece of her prayed nothing was wrong, and then she pieced it together.

"What is it? Felicity?" Oliver's concerned voice caught her gaze as she took it from Lyla, who had a feeling she knew what it was and was smiling.

"The baby" was the only thing she managed to get out before Oliver was rushing towards her.

"Oliver, relax…..just, give me your hand" obeying her order, he reached out his hand and she guided it towards where she felt the now numbing pain.

"Yeah, wait is that the baby?" just by that had Oliver was mesmerised by the fact that they were growing closer to meeting the soon-to-be-new-addition to their family.

The moment was soon joined in by the remaining members of the team but Oliver never left his position of being directly in front of Felicity, his hand taking up residence against her belly.

_Yep definitely a long pregnancy._

* * *

A couple days following Felicity and Oliver arranged an ultrasound appointment with her doctor but told them that they wanted to keep it discrete.

Oliver never left her side, always to her right enveloping her hand in his. Spreading the cold gel on her stomach, the doctor began to feel around before closing in on one particular spot.

That's when they heard the most beautiful melody, the tender sound of their baby's heartbeat.

She felt her whole world revolve around the sound as it ricocheted around in the room, making her heart soar. But at the sight of the little black and white alien-looking figure on the screen, she had to continuously take deep breaths to make sure she didn't pass out from the vision before her.

The time when they finally met the little Queen couldn't seem to come fast enough.

Glancing to her side at Oliver, he couldn't take his eyes off the screen. Looked like she wasn't the only one to be awestruck.

"I expect you two want a printout of the ultrasound?" her doctor, Dr. Wood, asked.

"Yes, thank you" Felicity managed to stutter out a response while Oliver on the other hand just looked like the whole world had just given him his life on a silver plate.

Before she could even react Oliver was embracing her in a kiss, _strictly PG_.

"Thank you"

"What for?"

"Everything"

Dr. Wood chose then to walk in with the printouts.

"Don't worry everything is normal, you're doing fantastic for your first time pregnancy…I think you two have created a beautiful baby together so congratulations. I will see you in two months' time again?"

"Yeah…thank you doc" Oliver reached out his hand to shake the doctor's, who gladly accepted and returned the gesture.

"My pleasure, I hope things go well with you two"

* * *

They were laid out on the porch swing, with Felicity leant up against the side of the swing with her feet in Oliver's lap who was in a normal sitting position, when he felt the need to ask her. They had spent hours on end just glazing the picture of their baby's ultrasound and still couldn't believe what they were seeing.

He couldn't hold it in anymore, he had to know.

"Felicity?"

"Hmm?" Felicity hummed her response as her eyes still locked on the pages of her book, this slightly agitated him but needlessly he continued.

"What would you say if I asked you how you feel about being boyfriend, girlfriend?"

She froze at that and when he thought he had overstepped, he saw that thinking look that he knew all too well and he wondered if she was considering it.

"It's peaceful being in a relationship with you and all, what with the kind of world we live in. Why?" her attention remained on the book. _Was she doing this to annoy him now?_

"Maybe, it's just the thought of raising a baby together had me thinking…"

"Careful there buddy, you may hurt yourself" she teased.

"…_what _if we became more than best friends?" she knew he wasn't going to let himself be torn away from his thoughts he needed to speak aloud.

"To what, best-best friends?"

"Felicity, you know where I'm going with this"

"No I don't think I do actually, where are you going with this?"  
"Well it's just that we've spent a long time as friends and it might be seen as even beyond the point of friends and more into the point of a relationship and come on we know each other like the back of our hands. So what if we were more than friends?"

"So hence the boyfriend, girlfriend question"

"Yes that and also well looking around at where we are it's just the fact that this is probably one of the best places to be truthful with you"

Yeah he was right. The sunset slowly began to dive behind the canopy of the trees, as they waved in the gentle breeze, colours lighting the sky like a firework display as crickets sung their songs. It was like the world was playing a beautiful melody to their one moment, which he was entirely thankful for.

"Yeah tonight's just picturesque" commenting while resting her head on the back of the swing. Before he had bought the place, he had made sure that the swing was one of those padded-cushiony ones.

"I hoped you would say that" turning to him, Felicity lifted her head from where it was nested against the cushiony padding of the swing and gazed into his eyes as he pulled out a little red velvet box from his pocket. "So without any more stalling, Felicity Megan Smoak, I have spent the good part of three years getting to know you, studying you and I can't say it hasn't had it's tough times but along with those have been so many remarkable times and with you it's like, a gust of fresh air and it's so refreshing. Along the way I discovered parts of myself that I thought I had lost ages ago and never be able to reach again with anybody but that second you walked into my life, things brightened up for me and you chased that darkness away. You saw _me_, something that hardly anyone ever sees. The second you saw my scars that held reminders of not only what happened to _me _but what I had to do in the past, you accepted them as part of me and that is something that not a lot of people have been able to do. You didn't see _Ollie_; you just see _Oliver_ and I can't even begin to tell you how much I never thought anyone could possibly do but that's something that you never cease to do, you never cease to amaze me and I don't want that to ever stop. Felicity, I'm not asking you this just because in a several more months we're going to be able to hold our child for the first time, no I'm asking you this because that second I laid eyes on you with that red pen in your mouth, I knew you'd be special to me and from day one I've been routing for you. I can't promise there won't be tough times ahead but what I can promise is the fact that if I'm with you, I know that I'll have the strength to fight whatever enemy comes our way. Felicity, I want to wake up beside you every day for the rest of my life, I want you to not bring me coffee every single morning and most of all I want to know what it feels like to know that for the first time in my life, I'm whole. So Felicity Megan Smoak, will you be my wife and become my home, will you marry me?"

The ring was such a sight to behold. A silver band with diamonds appealing the sides as an arrow wrapped around an emerald in the centre and on the inside it had been engraved, 'Oliver X Felicity' was written on the inside of the silver band.

It was everything that she had ever wanted in a ring. Simple, meaningful and unique to her. It was perfect.

For the first time in her entire existence, she was speechless. She didn't know words, she didn't know any words. Opening her mouth, no words came out but instead a gentle sob. So she did what she could then.

She nodded.

"…y-yes, yes I'll marry you" choking on a sob, Felicity threw herself at him, wrapping her arms tight around his neck as he held her close to him, arms locked about her waist but being wary of the treasure she carried for the two of them.

When she pulled back she couldn't help but laugh when she saw stray tears trailing down his cheeks. A huge smile was plastered across his face and judging by his reaction, he wouldn't be able to stop any time soon. Whipping and kissing them away, Felicity firmly pressed her lips against his, which he instantly answered back, wrapping his hand around her neck.

Sliding the engagement ring onto Felicity's finger was something that he had only dreamed of and now that it was becoming reality, that he was finally going to be able to marry the love of his life, he didn't stop the tears that came. But something he did do? Once the ring was securely attached to her finger, he gathered her into his arms and just held his _fiancée _through the sunset.

The second the colours blended into each other and let that colour of midnight take them over; Oliver carried Felicity upstairs to their bed and never released her from his arms. There was no way in hell he was going to letting her go now. He was hers, and she was his and that was how it was going to stay.

* * *

Night times were always his favourites because it was then he was able to spend the night with her in his arms and there was nothing anyone could say about it.

They told their friends of the news and let's just say _they should've worn earplugs_, but nonetheless they all got down to business but from time to time both Oliver and Felicity couldn't help but glance over at the engagement ring that lay claim to her as Oliver's. That's right, she was his and nobody was taking her away from him now.

That thought made him smile. Felicity had asked Thea to be her maid of honour while Oliver had asked Tommy to be his best man; both of them had come to Digg to ask if he could walk her down the aisle. _He couldn't stop himself from hugging Felicity, picking her feet right up off the floor_. Laurel, Sara and Lyla were all asked to be bridesmaids and they said that they would help organise everything for her but it was mainly Thea and Laurel that completely took charge. Everyone else stood on the side lines, just laughing as they claimed one of the desks and covered it in wedding things.

"Alright. Felicity, Laurel, Sara, Nyssa, Lyla and me and all going out tomorrow to choose Felicity's wedding dress while everyone else goes tux shopping" Thea ordered the team.

"You know this wedding is probably going to be extremely interesting" Felicity muttered to Oliver, who quietly chuckled his reply in her ear, she had to stop the shivers from overtaking her there and then.

"I definitely know what is going to be the most interesting part for me"

"Behave or there won't be any of _that_"

"You wouldn't dare" he mockingly-glared at her.

"Oh really, go ahead, see where it gets you….yeah exactly"

Someone was bodily heaving her away from Oliver, turning to see Thea looking at her devishly.

"What?"

"You, me, Laurel, Nyssa, Sara and Lyla are going dress shopping tomorrow and I swear if you don't cooperate, I'll pick your dress for you and trust me…you don't want that"

"Alright, I'll do my best"

"Good, now go rest and remember 10am tomorrow, mall, you better be there otherwise I swear I will get Digg to come and get you the hard way"

"Fine, fine I'm going"

Actually she couldn't wait until she got out of there since Thea and Laurel were going absolutely _insane_ with the planning. But this didn't stop Oliver from trailing shortly after her, scooping her up and carrying her to the car.

* * *

They eventually agreed on going through with the wedding, with Felicity swiftly rolling into her fifth month, in LA California on the beach in front of Felicity's beach house she had run to in the first month. They decided it one of the best locations and it was absolutely magnificent.

The guest list wasn't overly packed, including all the main friends and family.

Everything was planned and was ready to go, the only thing left was to go shopping for the wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses and the men's tuxes.

"So do you see anything you like?" the helpful Queen sister had literally drug her into one of the most expensive wedding shops in Starling.

Felicity and Oliver had argued that it would only take a matter of time before the press found out about the two newest additions to the Queen family, so they agreed that the girls were to take weapons just in case. Felicity had reminded him that they had two assassins and an ex-ARGUS agent amongst them; they didn't need to carry weapons. She had compromised on bringing a taser in her purse when he said that he wasn't prepared to let anything happen to neither her nor the baby.

It didn't take her long to find her perfect dress and when she laid her eyes on it, she knew it was the one for her.

The woman that helped them find the dress for Felicity said that it was a unique mermaid sweetheart cut out, cap sleeve, lace dress. What mainly stood out to her was not only the design of the shoulders but the open keyhole back.

Whenever she walked, it swished so elegantly around her. Standing in front of the mirror looking at herself in the wedding dress was like looking into heaven and to think that it was only next month that she was going to be getting married to Oliver, the man of her dreams, it was too much for her to handle.

"It's perfect"

"Felicity, you look….astounding, you're going to have every man on his knees begging for you" Laurel cheered, clasping her hands together in front of her mouth.

"Thank you, all of you"

"Felicity what did I say about crying?" Thea exclaimed when a singular tear escaped through her lashes.

"Pfft, I'm not crying, I…umm…poked myself in the eyes earlier with my mascara"

Lyla was the one to capture a picture of all the girls huddled together in a group hug in the mirrors, which actually turned out more like a selfie.

* * *

The wedding was a sight to behold. The bride and groom couldn't take their eyes off each other for more than five seconds.

For both of them, it was like a dream come true, more than they could've ever wanted in life.

Roy and Tommy stood by Oliver's side.

Meanwhile Laurel, Sara, Nyssa, Lyla and Thea walked down the aisle in dark green; one shoulder, floor length gowns with a bouquet of white and light green lilies.

Digg led Felicity down the aisle whilst Oliver watched on in awe, all the while the attention of the guests was on the bride being led towards the alter where the men stood awaited her presence. He joined the two men to the left of the bride and groom, who were all stood in white.

Felicity's wedding dress harmonised with her in such a way it left him gasping for air. Her hair cascaded down past her shoulders in soft waves. Her baby bump was visible even through the dress but it just made her look that much more exquisite. She was a vision in white.

How the hell was he going to be able to keep his hands off her for the entire wedding _and _reception?

The rays of sunshine beamed down on her, illuminating her in a golden light and catching on her feather style hair comb adorned by crystals, adding to that image of an angel all the more. The comb sent the rays of light off in different directions, glistening like stars in the sky.

This was the woman he was about to marry and spend the rest of his life with? Geez he was one lucky bugger.

How he was able to hear the priest's words was beyond him, he probably owed it to the years of ninja-training (as his nearly-wife oh so gloriously put it).

They both fought the tears as the laid words on how much the other meant to them, promising one another on the promise of forever, a life full of love.

"Do you, Oliver Jonas Queen, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?"

"I do"

"And do you, Felicity Megan Smoak, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

"I do" the second those two words came out of her mouth, his heart somersaulted in his chest.

Sliding the rings onto their partner's finger, they came together like magnets. Sharing a passionate kiss as the guests sat with tears in their eyes.

In that moment all Felicity and Oliver knew was each other. All other noise was blurred out by the love they had for the other.

Breaking apart from the kiss at the sound of the audience on their feet, cheering.

Walking down the aisle with her arm tucked beneath his, Oliver couldn't seem to whip that ear-splitting smile off his face as they made their way to the bottom, where he couldn't help but scoop his _wife _up in his arms and carry her towards the reception on the grassy land set beside the beach and left of the beach house.

Each member of Team Arrow, including the Arrow and his wife, stood and said a speech. It was definitely interesting when Nyssa spoke words on how she knew Felicity was the one for Oliver the second she first saw them together.

What really made her laugh was how Digg said how long he had waited for them to finally screw their heads on right and get together, and how he had to watch those long years when they made googly eyes at each other when they thought the other wasn't looking. All of which made everyone laugh.

When it was Felicity's turn to give a speech to her new husband, Roy brought up his guitar to sit on one of the stools to the side of her.

"Everything that I want to tell you is in this song so I want to dedicate this song to my husband, I love you"

Roy began to strum at his guitar, leading into the song. Felicity begun to sing the lyrics of 'When I Fall' by Rachel Lampa.

When she finished pouring her heart into the song, Felicity looked to Oliver who was visibility fighting back tears as everyone gave her a standing ovation.

* * *

As Oliver led his new wife to the floor, the song 'Until You' by Shayne Ward played through the speakers.

Swaying to the beat, he swung her out and reeled her back in before spinning her then dipping her planting a kiss on her lips.

* * *

Several months after the wedding, they were downstairs in the kitchen of their house with Felicity relaxing on the settee and Oliver in the kitchen. After Felicity begun nearing the baby's due date, Oliver had been extra protective and careful of where she went and what she did.

Around her sixth month Oliver had basically forbidden her from going to the Foundry and to stay at home, he even left the Arrow duty to Digg since Roy was now Arsenal as he remained by Felicity's side until the birth.

Something she found herself loving to do was just watching her husband making lunch.

Suddenly a pain in her stomach caused her to gasp as she gritted her teeth hard together.

"Felicity? Felicity, are alright?" Oliver made his way out of the kitchen and towards her, now doubling over clutching her stomach. "Felicity, talk to me"

"Oliver…it's time"

"What? Now?" he was panicking now.

"Yes, now"

"We need to get to the hospital"

"We need to call everyone else"

"We'll do that later, for now we need to get you to the hospital"

"ARGH! Crud balls, that one hurt!"

"Come on" helping her up off the settee, Oliver went and grabbed the bag they had packed beforehand with all the stuff that they'll need.

Along the way he called the rest of the team to let them know of the news, telling them to meet them at the hospital.

* * *

When they got to the parking lot of the hospital, the contractions began to close the distance between each one, causing Felicity more pain.

"You're not walking, here put your arm round me" obeying his instructions for the fact that she knew that she wouldn't be able to walk in this much pain, Oliver scooped her up and carried her into the hospital as she grabbed the bag and keys, locking the car. How? Don't ask.

Waiting at the door of the was Thea, Roy, Sara, Nyssa, Laurel, Tommy, Lyla and Diggle.

"My wife's in labour! She started the contractions ten minutes ago" Oliver started shouting for Dr. Wood.

When they didn't receive any help everyone else pitched in.

Dr. Wood came and guided him to a private hospital room in which was shortly filled with nurses already telling her to breathe deeply.

She had gone into a natural labour and that was good news by itself.

"Okay, Felicity I need you to start pushing alright"

Oliver stood by her side, holding her hand while Thea and Digg stood by her other side. Roy, Laurel, Tommy, Nyssa, Sara and Lyla remained outside waiting for any news on her situation.

"Keep pushing Felicity, you're almost there….we'll be able to meet our child soon, just keep pushing"

"Come on Felicity, you can do it" Digg encouraged, holding her other hand.

"We're all here for you" Thea voiced continuously peeking to see how far the baby was. "Come on Felicity, almost there now"

She was extremely grateful for all the encouragement from Oliver, Thea and Digg.

* * *

Pain was everywhere she turned, the voices around her were distorted but they were registering nonetheless. She knew she had to keep pushing no matter what happened, she had to deliver her child.

Using her hold on both Oliver and Digg's hands, Felicity grounded herself and used that as an anchor to gather her remaining strength and put it into going through with this birth.

Nothing in life was easy if it was people wouldn't be able to find that urge to fight, that reason to do what they do. Like Oliver for instance his purpose, his reason was to right his father's wrongs and she promised herself that she would spend the rest of her life trying to help him in ways only found to her. However, she couldn't help but wonder what or _who _would he be if he wasn't the Arrow?

Something she had found out early on in life, something she had had to find out for herself was that the best things in life, are fought for. Things that come easily aren't worth as much time as those of which you put in the time and effort to understand, to relate to. Those are the things that you fight for.

So right now, with everything she had, she would fight until she delivered her baby. She's had her rest and now it could all come to an end.

Ever since she was young Felicity's always believed that there are two parts to someone, the navigator and the guardian or as most people knew them, angel and devil. Well right now that guardian, that fighter side of her was telling her to fight for the life of her kid. The ball was in her court now and it was all up to her.

* * *

Warmth evaded her senses as she wrestled to release her hand and other limbs from the clutches of the blanket cocooned around her.

Hospital.

That was the last thing she remembered.

Her senses registered once again as her eyes lingered on every detail of the room. Her searching eyes upon a figure stretched out on the couch in the corner of the room. There Oliver laid, limbs shooting off in different directions as his chest rhythmically rose and fell continuously, it was as if a beat.

Glancing at the clock, Felicity saw the time it displayed.

Three o'clock.

In the morning, judging by the amount of noise coming from the hallway outside her room.

A gurgling sound is heard from the corner of her room, beside her bed.

Turning her head to the left, a bundle of green met her eyes. Curiosity lured her over the edge as she removed herself from layers of blankets and duvets.

Coldness shot through her feet, the sudden change in temperature making her flinch. Lowering one foot, following it by the other, Felicity padded over the cot and gazed into the treasure it held but what she wasn't expecting was for a pair of deep blue eyes to be looking back at her.

As soon as they locked eyes, he held up two little chubby arms and giggled, gesturing for her to pick him up.

Cradling him little body close to her chest whilst methodically rocking herself back and forth, she heard his laughs die down as his tiny head came to rest in the crook of her neck. She wasn't really sure where the movements came from but it just came naturally to her without thought.

As she stood there with her son safe in her arms, she couldn't help but fall deeply in love with him. She was so caught up with the love for her son, she didn't hear the footsteps behind her but when two strong arms banded themselves round her now flat stomach she knew exactly who it was without needing to turn around.

* * *

Oliver wasn't really sure what in fact woke him up but the second his eyes laid on the figure of his wife with their son bundled in her arms, he couldn't seem to take his eyes off the sight before him.

Walking up to the pair, Oliver wrapped his arms around her waist and closed any distance between them in an instant, holding himself close to her.

"You're supposed to be in bed"

"I think I've had more than enough rest…he's beautiful"

"Thanks to you and that still doesn't mean you're going to be let off that easily"

"And here I thought you were asleep"

"Exactly what you're supposed to be right now, the doctors said you needed your rest, gather your strength back again"

"And let me guess, you're going to make sure I'm going to do exactly that?"

"You are correct"

"Then you have your work cut out for you then"

"Was that a threat _Mrs Queen_?"

"Nope….that _Mr Queen_ was a promise"

* * *

A few days later both Felicity and their son, Connor Robert Queen, were released from the hospital and Oliver quickly ushered them into the car before the paparazzi figured out that they had actually used the back exit instead of the front, Digg guiding away the majority of the attention.

That they were _all _thankful for.

* * *

Ever since Connor had been born Felicity found herself sitting on the porch swing with her son in her lap, cradling him close and singing his lullaby until he fell asleep, this more so whenever he cried. Oliver always came out a few minutes later when he realised she wasn't coming back to bed anytime soon and sat at the opposite end with her feet in his lap or her in his lap, _making it easier when it came to carrying her up to bed_.

"What did I tell you about coming out here alone?"

"Mmm….." she murmured when Oliver found her, _yet again_, sitting with Connor in her lap on the swing, half asleep.

"Come on, bedtime for both of you" coming to the side of her, Oliver scooped up Felicity into his arms being careful of the bundle in her arms, _whose grip never loosened on him_.

Gently laying Connor in his cot, playing the Arrow mobile Thea and Felicity made themselves (which made it that much more special to him), Oliver returned to their bed to tuck both Felicity and himself beneath the covers.

"Oliver?" settling herself down with her head on Oliver's chest, she snuggled deep into his side as he banded his arms round her, drawing her in close to him.

"Yeah?"

"I'm glad you came after me" the words were partially slurred together but he still understood what she was saying. The thought put a smile on his face, similar to the one he had given her the first time they met. She was the first person ever since the island that got him to smile.

"I'll always come after you, wherever you go, _I go_"

"Mmm…that's nice" chuckling, he tightened his grip on her slightly before letting go of consciousness again but this time he would sleep peacefully because of a certain wife wrapped up in his arms.

"Goodnight, Felicity

"Night, Oliver"


End file.
